Enemy territory
by Elesey
Summary: AU in which the First Contact war starts seventeen years later, and after lasting ten years it's ended with the peace negotiated by asari and salarians and a forced marriage of the two best soldiers from each military.
1. Chapter 1

Fill for mass effect kink meme prompt:

"_So, there are some fills about these two being the bestest warriors of their respective militaries and getting married for political reasons. Those fills mostly focus on their first time together though, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I'd like to see something a bit different.  
I am curious how people who were recently nothing more than a couple of mortal enemies try to live together, how they deal with well, everything everyday life in such situation might throw them into."_

_...  
_

Everyone in the car felt the tension. It hung above them like a big, dark raincloud and the asari driving was expecting lightning to strike any moment. Everything was her fault and she was paying the price now, begging the Goddess or any force in the galaxy, that the two in the backseat didn't know it. Liara shuddered. Maybe they did and would kill her the moment she stopped the car. Or maybe they would tie her up and torture her in the basement. She needed to stop thinking about it. _"Protheans and artifacts,"_ she counted in her head, trying to remember what made her happy, _"big, deep pit__s __full of __treasures far__, far away, where the two most dangerous soldiers in the galaxy wouldn't be able to find me."_

Just a month ago, having a turian and human closer than 500 meters meant bloodshed. Then the asari and salarians stepped in, after ten long years of war, and made the peace terms to speed things up. Liara had been on the committee as her mother's substitute since she was unable to attend, though she had no idea what to say or why this was even allowed. One day she overheard two human women talking about an earth custom of marrying the heirs of two families in disagreement to bring them together. She had brought it up in one of the meetings and the committee thought it was a great idea, only instead of some politicians' children it would be the best soldiers of each species, showing their nations that it was possible to get along, despite war and differences. They even made her the head of the project. But when she had found the humans from before, they explained that they were discussing the plot of an old, stupid vid and it ended with the main characters burning down their mansion and killing each other. Liara had stood there mortified for a long time; it was already too late to change anything.

Her worst fears were confirmed when the news was told to Shepard and Vakarian. He had smashed every piece of furniture in the conference room with his bare hands, while Shepard simply put a few rounds from her pistol in the wall behind the asari delegate, millimeters from her head, and asked for the name of the one responsible for this.

Which brought Liara back to her current situation. Either no one really had said anything about her involvement or they were waiting for a chance to kill her in a slow, painful way without witnesses. Somehow there hadn't been a single incident with either of them since they were told; she hadn't seen them speak a word to each other, except for the marriage vows. She was pretty sure they hadn't even looked at each other since getting in the car. Not exactly happy newlyweds, but they should have a lot in common. She hoped that they would at least find a way to coexist. If not, the galaxy wouldsee hell.

When they arrived, she gave them quick tour around the house, never letting either out of sight and jumping at every noise. Furnishing the house had been a nightmare, both governments pouring money and sending big, expensive stuff, trying to outdo each other. Liara had to rent a storehouse for all the presents; Shepard and Vakarian could bring them here, if they felt like it. At the beginning she tried to make everyone happy, finding a place in the house for every gift, even managed to put a hot tub on the balcony, but soon gave up and did everything her way. She felt satisfied with her work, though the tub couldn't be moved again without half of the house.

"I'll come back in few days to see how you're doing. Hope you like the house," Liara said, preparing to leave.

"It's lovely, thank you," Shepard answered, giving her a small, tired smile.

When she was gone, Garrus picked up his bag and headed to the second floor. "You can take the bedroom," he said, halfway up. She didn't answer at all, but just took her own bag and followed.

Shepard didn't even look around, taking off her clothes and falling in the bed. It was soft and warm and smelled like freshly washed sheets. She felt so tired. The past month was a blur. One moment she was shouting at her superiors, that they have no rights to dictate who she marries, the next – she's standing in a white dress for a wedding photo. But the wedding was over, the war was over and her life as she knew it was over as well. Tomorrow she'll have to start everything from scratch, somehow not killing her husband or making a target of herself. Last thing she thought about was the conversation when she finally agreed to this. _"Is your life alone more valuable than the thousands that will die if the war goes on?"_

Shepard woke up next morning late. It was a strange feeling – to not have any plans for the day. Even when the war had ended, there were always meetings to attend or the wedding to prepare. She spent some time just lying in the huge bed, thinking about the mess she's gotten into this time. From all the crazy things she thought she might be forced to do, ending the war by marrying the enemy definitely wasn't on the list. And of all the turians, it had to be Vakarian. She had spent her whole career trying to bring him down. She always thought the highest point in her life will be putting bullet in his head after the fight of her life.

They were equally good on battlefield. All the missions she had failed, was because of him, and when she had managed to stop him, she celebrated it like her birthday. She respected, but hated him. How was she supposed to start loving and caring for him? She turned her head to look at the empty side of the bed, made for a turian to sleep. Shepard tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up and see his grey face with blue markings next to her. She'd probably slit his throat on instinct and he'd probably do the same. Good thing he went to sleep in the guest room.

Shepard left the second floor after a long, hot shower. She found her new husband in the kitchen, making food. He wasn't wearing a shirt, plates shining in the morning sun. She hadn't seen real turian without armor, only diagrams explaining where they were plated and their weak points. She didn't stare long, not sure how he would react to her curiosity.

"Good morning," she said, shifting her attention to an overly complicated coffee machine. He didn't even turn to look at her when he answered: "Good morning."

It took her five minutes to find a simple black coffee from the huge choice of drinks, sweeteners and syrups. There were even five different sorts of coffee beans. On ships, she was lucky if the instant coffee powder hadn't run out. When she finally got her drink, she turned to look at what the turian was doing next to her. He was cutting something blue and soft, but then she noticed he wasn't wearing any pants either.

"You're naked!" she said, shocked. She wasn't very shy or anything, but finding her mortal enemy naked in her kitchen, was not a good way to start a day, especially when the coffee machine had already used up her patience.

"Yeah, so?" he asked, finally turning to look at her. "It's not like turians have anything _dangling around_like humans," he pointed at his plates.

"I can still see your ass," she said.

"I hope you like it," he answered, bending down to retrieve something from the lower shelf. She kicked his naked butt and heard his head hitting something metal, followed by swearing. Shepard quickly walked away. "Wear some pants at least," she shouted, leaving the kitchen.

...

Shepard spent the rest of the morning settling in and unpacking her stuff. She didn't own many things, but the job took more time because she was distracted by her thoughts of Vakarian. She actually felt bad about kicking him. He hadn't said anything to insult her. And she had forgotten that turians walk around naked in their homes – it's what she had read in one of the books on turian customs after getting to know about marriage. She didn't read it very carefully, more like skimmed over it as her personal little revenge for the deal. Now she felt like an idiot. She hoped she hadn't deleted them from her omnitool.

She finally left the bedroom a couple hours later. Somehow facing Vakarian to apologize required far more courage than fighting him one on one in an old storage room. She went down to the living room, but was distracted by the large amount of boxes next to the doors. She decided to take a closer look. They were wedding gifts. Most had _Shepard & Vakarian _ written on them, but she noticed one big, red box with only her name on. She freed it and sat on the couch, putting it on the table before her. There was a message attached, that said: _This should help you survive and have a little fun after __the __wedding. Love Alice and Mell _

Shepard remembered these girls; they had served together on a ship for a year before Shepard got transferred. They quickly became friends and still called each other sometimes. She smiled to herself at the memories and wondered what they had sent, as she opened the box. Inside was nothing she expected. First thing she noticed was a big, pink vibrator lying in the middle of the box, surrounded by packages with pictures of naked men and women. She sat there for a moment stunned, till she heard footsteps behind her. She quickly put the lid back on and turned just in time to see Vakarian stopping next to her.

"What's in there?" he asked, pointing on the box. Good thing was – he didn't sound angry, the bad thing – his timing was the worst. But he was fully clothed this time.

"Nothing, just a joke. Some of my friends think they're very funny," she said, trying to act like she hadn't just opened a box full of sex toys.

"Oh, can I see?" he asked, reaching for the lid.

"No!" she panicked and tried to snatch the box away, but since the universe seemed to hate her lately, she spilled the contents on table and floor instead. There was a lot more stuff in there than she thought.

They both stood there awkwardly, not sure whether to run away or pick them up.

"I should probably go… do something," he said nervously, trying to look anywhere but on the toys or her. They weren't married even a full day, and it already was turning into a disaster. Now he'll probably think she's some kind of sexual deviant or nympho. Since she probably couldn't embarrass herself any further…

"Commander Vakarian," she said in much quieter voice than usually. Thankfully he stopped and turned to look at her.

"Please, just call me Garrus," he said.

She let out a heavy sigh. "Garrus, I wanted to apologize for this morning. I shouldn't have kicked you."

"It was my fault as well," he answered, "I didn't really read the materials they sent me about humans and acted like I was living alone."

"I didn't read them either," she admitted, then asked: "So, no hard feelings?"

"Yeah," he nodded, but didn't turn to leave, instead stepped closer a moment later. "I was thinking, Shepard - neither of us are in this out of free will, but that doesn't mean we have to be enemies. The war is over and we're both stuck here, so we might try to get along at least on some level, treat each other with respect."

Shepard smiled. It sounded so like the commander she knew – he always liked to plan ahead, prepare for everything. It was his strong point, just like hers was improvising. It was why defeating him felt so good – she beat him where he was the best. But Garrus was right – the war was over, there was no point in fighting, especially in this situation. And some certainty would be welcome.

"I've always respected you," she admitted.

"Respecting me as an enemy and as someone you share your home with are two different things," he pointed out. Shepard had to agree, but she wasn't sure she knew how to do it. She grew up on ships and had spent most of her life there. She hadn't really lived in a house for time period long enough to call it a home. Then again she hadn't been married before or tried to be friendly with a turian. It was new life indeed.

"Alright, I'll try to respect you as someone I live with," she said, extending her hand. He hesitated for a second, then shook it in a human way, looking her in the eyes: "As will I."

Somehow this little moment meant more to her than the whole previous day with paper signing and vows.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day came with a new problem for Shepard: boredom. Neither she nor Garrus was allowed to leave the house until their supervisors were satisfied with their relationship progress. She had tried to read books about turians, but dozed off every five minutes. Later she felt a sudden craving for a certain asari stew she had eaten during peacemaking, Shepard had even sneaked in the kitchens to see how it was made.

Unfortunately, cooking anything that took more than push of a button or stirring was beyond her. It didn't help that more than few ingredients weren't in her house and Shepard tried to substitute with whatever looked like them. It ended with blast when she put the pot on the heat. After taking a shower she decided that the kitchen was too dirty to clean it right away and instead sat on the couch, playing her favorite game, waiting for the motivation to do something useful appear.

She saw Garrus for the first time since yesterday's talk a few hours later. He walked past her, threw her a greeting, and headed for the kitchen. For a moment Shepard considered warning him, but he would see everything himself soon enough. As expected, he reappeared next to her seconds later.

"I'm not sure about humans, but turians use the kitchen for cooking, not testing explosives," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't worry, humans do too," she said, typing furiously on her omnitool. She had almost won, only the last enemy wave left…

"Then what the hell happened in there?" she heard him ask.

"Tried a new recipe, didn't work out," she answered, looking at the large screen on the wall as the last enemy base was destroyed.

"Then go and clean up. I want to eat, but there isn't a single…" he was interrupted by an extra loud and flashy victory animation. "Is that Emperor of the Galaxy?"

"Emperor of the Galaxy and Beyond Twenty-Two collector's edition with three extra difficulty settings," she answered with big grin. "I'm the best player out there."

Garrus snorted. "You think that only because you've never played with a real master. I've never lost a game," he said with that cocky turian grin she hated so much.

"You're on, Vakarian," she said in annoyed tone, setting game to two player mode. He sat down on the other end of the couch, watching the opening credits.

"The screen is nice," he commented.

"Yeah, good to know our governments spend whatever money is left after the war on the important stuff," she answered.

Three hours and five beers later they were still playing. This was the most intense game she ever played. She was making slow progress, taken three star clusters and was fighting for the fourth, sending her fleets against his solid defenses. Usually by now she would have destroyed at least third of enemy's forces. The turian was definitely planning on something. He hadn't made any serious attack on her own bases yet.

"So, what do you do all day?" she asked, trying to distract him from decimating her fourth and fifth fleets. His long legs were on the coffee table and he held some kind of turian drink in his left hand. She was stretched over the couch, one leg over its back, looking at the screen from an angle that would make her neck hurt soon.

"My weapons and armor arrived yesterday and I've been calibrating today," he answered. Her own things were still coming. Last she heard they were on hold in Customs because some of the weapons mods were apparently illegal in the Council space. She pretended she knew nothing.

"Lucky, I don't know when I'll seem my babies again," she sighed. Talking didn't seem to distract him at all. Not that she was really expecting it to.

"I'm still hungry," he said a moment later.

"Then go get something, Va… Garrus," she answered. Saying his name felt very strange.

"I can't. The kitchen still looks worse than some battlefields I've seen and I'm not cleaning up your mess," he finished off the last of her attacking forces and went for a counter-attack. She had a witty remark ready for an answer, but a knock on the door disturbed her.

"Pause it," she said, pushing the button on her omnitool and rising up to open the door. He was still typing when she was at the door. "Stop cheating!"

Their guest was the same asari who brought them here. She still looked nervous, maybe a little scared, but Shepard knew what reputation they both had and she couldn't really blame her.

"Hi, I came to see how you two are doing," she said, carefully looking over the living room. "Is everyone ok? Alive?"

"Relax, everything's fine," Shepard answered, but then a loud boom caught her attention and she turned to the screen just in time to see she had lost one of the conquered star clusters. "Get your ugly, little hands off that omnitool before I remove them with my shotgun."

Liara jumped at her shout. For a second she had let herself relax under the illusion that things were going well – they were in the same room, playing a game (a war game, but still better than being dead or ignoring each other). Now it seemed completely opposite and she could not shake the image of her own hands blown off by a shotgun.

"I have very nice hands by turian standards," Garrus sounded offended, but paused the game. "Besides, your weapons are not here yet."

"I always have at least one gun with me," she snapped back.

"Is it getting hotter here?" Liara stepped in nervously. "I'll just go get a glass of water."

"I think you scared her," Garrus said, watching the asari go to kitchen. Then he remembered about the state of that place and gave Shepard a worried look, which she returned. A small scream came from the room and Liara hurried out.

"What happened there?" she looked paler, but it was hard to tell with asari. "Is the red stuff blood?"

"Shepard's cooking," Garrus answered before Liara could panic. "I know we don't look like the friendliest people in the Galaxy, but we haven't tried to kill each other."

"Yeah, relax," Shepard said, leading her to the couch and passing her a beer. "I was just joking about shooting off Garrus' hands."

When she had calmed down Liara offered to clean up the kitchen in the hope that it would keep them from fighting later. They gladly accepted and returned to the game. She slipped out from the kitchen once in a while to check on them and was surprised at how comfortable they were with each other. She expected to find them at opposite ends of the house or waiting for an attack when in the same room. They weren't exactly friendly, careful of each other's personal space, rarely talking, but there wasn't any real tension either. She wondered if there really was a hatred hidden deep in their hearts or it was just circumstances that had made them enemies.

When Liara learned that she made a mistake and there was no way to stop this, she promised herself to make their marriage work even if that would be the last thing she did. It was the only way to save what was left of their lives, but she didn't have much time. Politicians would soon be all over them, trying to use them for their games and they would need each other.

...

A week later Shepard realized she was feeling rather comfortable in the house. She had everything she needed and more. Liara brought products regularly and she gradually found new things to do. There was workout equipment and a shooting range in the basement, and a vid collection big enough to play one hundred years nonstop. However, the house didn't have an extranet connection so she couldn't bother her friends and family or even watch the news. She still had those turian books to read, but she had almost given up on them. She spent time with Garrus rarely, not really avoiding him, but trying not to get in his way. They sometimes met at meals or joined each other for an Emperor of the Galaxy game, but never sought the other out specifically.

She wasn't sure how she felt about it. On one hand, she was glad they could live together peacefully and didn't want that to change, but on the other it felt like she should try to get to know him. They lived together and he was technically her husband, but she never could brace herself to ask him something personal. It felt like intruding, stepping over a line. _Like admitting, that we really are married and there is no way out, _she thought. Shepard accepted her destiny when the Alliance finally convinced her to agree to this, but she didn't have any plans on how to live with the turian past the ceremonies.

Shepard never really thought about marrying before. No one planned their life much in a war. She never dreamed about settling down or having children. She had found her happiness in a good fight and a job well done. She was afraid that they both would be stuck on this little green planet populated by asari for the rest of their lives while trying to be an example of human-turian mutual… what? What did they expect to see? Respect? Friendship? Love? How they even came up with the crazy idea was beyond her. Maybe the one who suggested the marriage had a personal grudge against one or both of them; she never did find the one responsible for this. Maybe it was some strange alien-hippy love and peace thing, though she didn't know much about the other species or if they even had hippies.

Things would probably be easier if she knew what Garrus thought. He was friendly most of the time, made some jokes occasionally, but kept his distance just like her. She couldn't ask anyone else what he thought, since the only other person they met was the poor, scared asari and she doubted they talked much. But turning to him directly would probably be stepping over that line.


	3. Chapter 3

That night Shepard couldn't fall asleep. It was her usual bedtime, but no position seemed to be comfortable. She even tried the turian side, but rolled off it immediately – it was the most uncomfortable surface she had ever tried to sleep on. She wondered if Garrus would feel like this sleeping on a human bed.

But she knew it wasn't the bed that was to blame for her sleeplessness, it was the anxiety. She wasn't made for peace, doing nothing, relaxing. She needed adrenaline, challenge, battle. Even during shore leave, if she was off ship for more than three days she would get into a fight. How she managed to live a week locked in a house with a turian without making trouble was a mystery.

And she missed her guns. Bastard's things arrived on the first day and she knew he was spending a lot of time in the basement tinkering with them. All she had was an old pistol with limited ammunition for emergencies. She regretted buying mods from a black market dealer now, but during the war they made killing enemies almost beautiful.

Now her mind was full of guns and she nursed a very bad idea that wouldn't go away – to take a look at Garrus' weapons. She didn't know when he went to sleep or what he was doing now, but if he wasn't working…

It didn't take long for her to get out of the bed, slip in some clothes and walk down to the basement. The lights were on, but he wasn't there – probably forgot to switch them off before leaving. Shepard had noticed he sometimes did that. She would walk in the living room or kitchen in the morning and the lights would still be on. She amused herself with the thought that he didn't like the dark.

The basement had two rooms – one for workout equipment, and a shooting range with storage for guns and armor. Shepard had only taken a quick look before since she didn't have anything in there yet. There were shelves for armor, a few gun lockers and a work bench at opposite walls of the room for each of them.

She stopped at the armor first and smiled. He had had this set for two years now. She remembered it from the many times they crossed paths during the war. It was her fault he had to change the previous one – she and her team had cornered and almost killed him, but he somehow got away. She had damaged that set beyond repair. Shepard knew that few of the scratches and dents on this one were from her as well, just like her armor had marks from him.

She put down the chest plate she was inspecting and stopped at the sniper rifles, neatly set against the wall near the table. Garrus was probably working on them when down here. She ran her fingers across the biggest one, wondering how many of her friends and comrades this weapon had killed. She took it and lifted to her shoulder. She hadn't used a sniper rifle since training, but was pretty sure none in the Alliance weighed this much. Her shotgun wasn't exactly light, but this was something else. Combined with the size, she couldn't really understand how he was able to move around as fast as he did. Maybe he didn't use it often.

She went to the range, wondering whether he would notice if she took a few shots. She found the center of the target through the scope, removed the safety and put her finger on the trigger.

"What are you doing?"

His voice surprised the hell out of her and she snapped at him, pointing the weapon in the direction of his voice. She hadn't turned fully when she heard and felt the rifle shoot. Her first thought was: _Who the fuck makes weapons with __a__ trigger that sensitive?_ She was sure she hadn't added more than the slightest pressure, she was a professional after all. The rest of her thoughts were overwhelmed by the pain in her shoulder. She felt the weapon slipping out of her grip, but Garrus was already there, taking it away from her. At least she hadn't shot him.

The next moment he was ripping her shirt open to examine her shoulder. She heard the buttons pop off and fall to the floor, hissing in pain as he removed the shirt from her right arm.

"Shit, I think it's broken," he said and she could hear worry in his voice. She couldn't turn her head to see, but she could feel it was pretty bad. She also felt dizzy.

"I think I need to sit down," she said, looking for something to lean on, but Garrus gently scooped her up and took her to the living room and set her on the couch.

"What should I do?" he asked, typing on his omnitool.

"Get me an icepack or something else cold," she answered, closing her eyes and breathing deep.

She heard him speak in the kitchen – probably to Liara, she was the only one they could call from this house. Only now she realized how stupid this lockdown was. They couldn't even contact a hospital directly; all calls were forwarded to her. From that point things proceeded in a blur. Liara came after what felt like an eternity of pain and suffering and took them to the hospital where doctors were waiting

Shepard woke up in the hospital room, the clock on the wall showed it was four in the morning. Her shoulder still hurt, but it was more bearable now. There were bandages over her right arm, shoulder and chest, keeping it all together. Shepard slowly scanned the room and noticed Garrus leaning against the wall, watching her.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked.

"Hurts," she answered. She wanted to apologize, but Garrus spoke again before she could: "What were you thinking?"

"That you have a nice, big gun that I want to play with?" she said, then groaned. "That came out wrong, stupid anesthesia always makes me say the wrong things."

He didn't answer anything, just smirked.

"Sorry about everything," Shepard said after a brief silence. "I feel like an ass. If someone touched my guns, I would kill him. It's been what – a week only- and I'm apologizing you the second time already."

"I guess you've learned your lesson about my weapons," he said, taking a seat near her bed, "and I actually thought you'd be worse."

"Why did you agree to marry me then?" she asked.

"I like challenge," he answered and Shepard couldn't keep herself from laughing a little.

"Besides, if I was forced to marry a human, at least it would be the best one."

She wanted to reply something in kind, but Liara came in.

"Shepard, good to see you're awake," she could see relief wash over the asari. "You shattered your shoulder badly. I was worried there might be a permanent damage, but the doctor said it should be alright," she continued. For once she didn't look scared in their company. "You can go home, no moving around for three days, then come back for a check-up."

"That's what you get from a forty kilogram rifle recoil," Garrus pointed out.

"How can you use it?" Shepard asked in disbelief.

"Turian bones are stronger than human," he explained, then added smugly, "and I'm a professional."

"You scared me to death," Liara said, sounding tired. "If something more serious had happened… I added all emergency lines to the allowed connection list. I can't believe I didn't think of it before."

No one said much on their way home as everyone was exhausted. The sky was turning from black to dark blue, sunrise not far away. Liara explained to them in the car how to take care of her shoulder and use the medication, but didn't stay long in the house when they got there as her omnitool started pinging.

"Goddess, someone leaked to the Alliance that you were in the hospital," she said worried, looking through her messages. "This could become a disaster, I must go deal with it."

Garrus looked like he wanted to stop her, but she was gone before he could say anything. Shepard felt sorry for him – he was stuck alone with a human who wouldn't be able to take care of herself for three days. They still knew nothing but how to hurt each other; she was a little glad that she wasn't in his place until a new wave of pain and dizziness overwhelmed her.

Garrus helped her up to the bedroom and left when she entered. He returned with a glass of water while Shepard unbuttoned her pants with her left arm and wondered how to get them off. Every movement shot new pain through her shoulder and trying to remove them with one hand promised to be hell.

"Garrus, could you pull my pants down?" she couldn't believe she was asking him to do it. He just nodded and came to her. They had never been so close to each other; he smelled strange, but not in a bad way; fresh. He hooked his fingers behind the edges of pants on both sides of her hips and pulled down also taking her underwear. Shepard let out a little cry and quickly sat on bed. Garrus retreated immediately, her pants still around her knees.

She felt her face blush. For the first time in God knows how many years she blushed. How was she supposed to ask him to pull her underwear back on? She'd rather sleep half naked.

"Sorry, sorry, don't mind me," she said, lifting her legs a little so that he could finish the job. He looked worried and puzzled, but didn't say anything. She took her sleeping pills as he folded her clothes and put them on chair near bed, spending a moment to regard her panties curiously.

"Just leave them there," she said quietly, too tired to explain. He helped her lie down, tucked her in gently and just sat there until she fell asleep.

...

Shepard woke up slowly, feeling like something heavy and spiky was stomping on her shoulder. She had broken a leg and an arm a few times, but if pain was any indicator, this was worse. She was guessing that she broke more than a single bone this time. She was working on opening her eyes, when a knock on the door disturbed her half-slumber.

Garrus came in holding a mug of coffee and a glass of water in each hand and a pack of painkillers in his mouth. He set everything on the nightstand and stepped back. Shepard had never been happier to see him. She took the pills as quickly as she could, then coffee and let it wake her up fully. It was black, just how she liked – when had he noticed?

"Thank you so much. For everything," she said, after taking a sip. "How did you know I was awake?"

"I set your omnitool to send me your readings while we were in the hospital," he answered. "Do you need anything else?"

Shepard shook her head. He had been so kind and caring, she couldn't believe it was the same man she was hunting down a few months ago. She'd expect this from a friend or family, but they've been speaking just for a week. The thought made her frown – him noticing what she drank in mornings, letting her call him by his first name, now all this caring…

"Garrus, why are you doing all this?" Shepard asked quietly. The change in his posture was answer enough – he was a turian, but she knew a nervous and uncomfortable person when she saw one.

"I already told you there is no point in being enemies," he answered. They both knew that answer wasn't enough.

"It's more than that, isn't it?" she pushed on. Garrus turned away and walked to the window. "You want me in your debt."

"Look, Shepard, my intentions aren't to harm you or your people," he said after a moment of consideration. "I figured that if I treated you well, you would return the favor if it was necessary."

"So it's all just calculation for you?" Somehow that made her feel betrayed. She didn't really expect friendship or affection, but thinking about his actions now left a bitter aftertaste.

Garrus turned around to face her and took a deep breath: "I don't… dislike you, Shepard. Shit, you know yourself how hard this is. I spent the previous month convincing myself that I won't have to attack you on sight. I don't know what to do so I followed the most logical path. Was I wrong? How am I supposed to act?"

She didn't have the answer. Those were the same questions she'd been asking herself. Garrus was always so confident and calm, she thought he had it all figured out, had a plan like always, but he was just as lost. There was only one thing she was sure about…

"I don't know either," she answered, "but it won't work if I have to wonder every time you do or say something: 'Was that Garrus or Commander Vakarian? Did you mean it or was it just an act?'_._ Everything is so complicated already, let's not make it worse."

"So what do you suggest?" he asked.

"Just be honest," she said, weary from the uncomfortable conversation. "If you want to help or do something kind let it be from your heart. That's all I ask."

"Alright, let's try it your way," he said, after considering her words, but looking relieved. "You look tired. Call me if you need something."


	4. Chapter 4

She fell asleep again after some time, but was woken by the irritating sound her omnitool made when someone was calling. She wanted to ignore it, but she knew it must be important - Liara wouldn't disturb her otherwise. She pushed the button awkwardly to answer.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked, her voice drowsy.

"The Alliance. They don't leave anyone from the committee alone since they heard about you getting hurt," she said. Liara sounded awful – there was exhaustion combined with helplessness in her voice.

"Have you gotten any sleep?" she asked.

"Too much to do. I'm trying to stop this from getting to the media, dealing with the Alliance and everyone they're bothering," the asari answered.

"Can you get me someone to talk to? I'll calm them down and make sure they deal with the press. Go get some rest," Shepard said, although that was the last thing she wanted to do. She already had her "serious talk" fill for the day thanks to Garrus, but she was the reason for trouble.

"That's why I'm calling. I've got Anderson waiting to talk to you," she said and Shepard smiled. Captain Anderson was the commanding officer she had worked the longest with and considered him a friend. If she had to speak to anyone, he would be her first choice. "Patching him through."

"Shepard?" the question came moments later.

"God, it's so good to hear a human's voice," she said. She hadn't noticed how much she missed it.

"Are you alright? What happened exactly?" she could hear the worry in his voice.

"My shoulder's killing me, but I'm fine otherwise," she answered. "It was an accident – I was bored and wanted to try out Garrus' sniper rifle, but it has a really nasty recoil, especially when shot accidentally."

"Garrus? You mean Commander Vakarian?" there was a bit of amusement in his question. "Sounds like things are going well."

"Could be worse," she didn't feel like sharing any details. She wasn't sure what she would say if he asked for more.

"At least he's not hurting you. Treating you bad?" Shepard smiled. It was nice to know that someone still cared.

"It's actually the opposite," she answered honestly. "Most of the time we're just keeping away from each other."

"Good," Anderson said, relieved. "I know the Alliance convinced you to do this, but there are many who still disagree with what was done, me included. If anything happens, let me know and I'll come after you personally. I have a suspicion that Joker and Alenko are planning the rescue already."

"Please don't let them do anything stupid, sir," she said, wincing. The two of them showing up here, swinging guns, could cause an incident that might start another war. "And could you do something about the press? The asari watching after us is going through hell because of me."

There was a knock on the door and Garrus peeked in, waiting for her permission to enter. Shepard gestured for him to come in, her conversation with Anderson almost over.

"I'll see what I can do," he answered. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

"Of course, he's just one turian," she answered, smirking at Garrus.

"It's Vakarian we're talking about," he pointed out.

"It's Shepard you're talking to," she retorted.

He laughed a little, then said before terminating the connection: "Take care."

"Well aren't we cocky?" Garrus asked, coming closer.

"Confident. And I have many good reasons," Shepard answered shifting her attention to the turian. He had a tray with the bowl of her usual instant food warmed and ready and one of every kind of utensil there was in their kitchen. She frowned at the food, but he caught up quickly with what was going on in her mind.

"No ulterior motive," he said passing her the plate and tried to change the subject: "What makes you think you could take me on?"

"Asteria," Shepard said, taking a spoon of soup and blowing on it to cool it.

Garrus winced at the name: "Don't remind me. Did you know I'm stuck at the Commander's rank because of what you did there?"

Shepard chuckled. The Alliance had a big base on the planet and turians had wanted to take it. Garrus was in charge of the operation. Human military caught a soldier who revealed during interrogation that they planned to attack and the Alliance sent Shepard to stop them. It was a glorious victory for her and humiliating defeat for him.

"Funny, I got promoted after that mission," she told him smugly.

"I still kicked your ass on Daleon," he answered crossing his arms on his chest.

"You got lucky."

"I don't need luck, I've got skill."

"Sure could've used some luck on Asteria. Or Arvuna. Remember that stationwhere I destroyed your armor?" she asked mockingly.

"Better shut up and eat before I start to count all your losses. We'd be sitting here for the rest of the day," he retorted.

She did as he said, ate her lunch and reminisced on the old times. "We've been through a lot together… or against each other," she said, finishing her meal.

"Yeah," he agreed thoughtfully and took the tray. "I'll come back later with dinner."

***

Garrus came to her thrice a day, bringing food with him every time. He'd sit with her while she ate and they'd talk about all kinds of things, learning small details about each other and their lives before they got married. After the conversation they had when she just returned from the hospital, she thought that the gap between them would widen, but it somehow had the opposite effect. Garrus seemed more relaxed afterwards, like some weight had been removed from his shoulders and she had decided she would trust him, that he wouldn't try to manipulate her.

Her shoulder was healing nicely, most of the pain gone. She even managed to dress herself waiting for Liara to arrive and take her to the hospital. Liara asked them to both be present as there was something important to discuss.

"Shepard's accident pointed out a serious problem," Liara said, standing in front of them. "Humans don't trust other species."

"Really? Never would've guessed," Garrus said sarcastically and Shepard rolled her eyes.

"I'm not talking just about the turians. Before Anderson interfered the Alliance were asking for one of them to come and confirm that Shepard was alright despite anything the committee said," she told them after giving Garrus a murderous glare. "They've never had a conflict with the asari or salarians. There is no reason for distrust."

"Except that they let this war last for a decade before intervening," he said. "They haven't exactly seen the best of the Galactic society. Humans probably think others are on the turian side because they're newcomers."

"Wow, Garrus, didn't expect you to side with the humanity," Shepard said, taken aback.

"It's not about sides," he explained, "just facts. The war was a stupid misunderstanding and would have ended much sooner if everyone stopped being so stubborn."

"Don't blame the asari for what your people started. We had no obligation to step in at all. You should be thankful," she said, angry. Shepard didn't expect that – from how she acted before she didn't think the young asari would ever raise her voice at either of them.

"Can we get to the point and argue who's at fault later?" she stepped in before Garrus could say anything. "I don't want to miss my appointment with the doctor."

"Sorry, of course," Liara said, regaining composure. "We decided to allow visitors once in a while. Family and some close friends that you can trust to tell the truth about how you are doing."

"I thought the point of this isolation was that nobody saw us before we could show some mutual understanding," she said. Shepard was glad about the news, but she wasn't sure they could do what was expected yet.

"The point of having you here alone was for you to get to know each other, get used to this situation," the asari explained. "It's all for your own good, not because of the expectations put on this marriage. I'm sure you can act out whatever is asked for, but I wanted you to actually develop something, anything before facing distractions. And you've been doing surprisingly well so far, you can consider this a little reward as well," she smiled at them.

"Somehow that makes me feel like we're pets in training," Garrus said. "But I'm not complaining. A friendly turian face would be a welcome sight."

"I only ask you to consider carefully who you let in – what they say afterwards will affect how the others will see this marriage and even how your people will regard each other," Liara said with more serious expression. "Ask them not to share more than absolutely necessary."

"So, no pressure regarding the whole human-turian interspecies relationship at all," Shepard said with heavy sigh.

***

The visit at the hospital went well; the doctor gave her a list of exercises to do every day for her shoulder to finish healing correctly. She and Garrus were feeling more comfortable around each other. She would sometimes go to the basement to watch him work on his weapons with puppy eyes, but she was forbidden to hold a gun for few weeks so her fragile bones wouldn't dislocate or break again. They continued their conversations from before, finding out that they had more in common than they thought.

Garrus usually joined her in the training room, lifting weights and running while she did her shoulder exercises. He even asked if she was alright with him removing his shirt during his workout which made her laugh. She sometimes watched him while pretending she was resting and she knew he did that too. Slowly her life in the house was becoming more interesting and easy.

It hadn't even been a full week since their talk with Liara when the first guests planned their arrival. Joker and Kaidan would be here in a few days. Shepard wasn't really surprised about them coming as soon as they could – they were her best friends and neither agreed with her marriage to a turian. They probably were worried sick, only hearing news about her from the asari.

"Liara called, said two of my friends will arrive in five days," Shepard said at dinner.

"Oh, are they from the Alliance?" he asked.

"Yeah, don't really have any good friends outside it," she explained. "Joker is a pilot, smart mouth, but with a good heart, though he does try to hide it. Kaidan's a soldier, biotic, really nice and kind guy. I've been serving on the same ship with them for almost two years. Well, was serving."

"It should be interesting. I just hope they won't try to kill me in my sleep. Wouldn't want to hurt them on instinct," he said, biting a chunk out of the meat he prepared previously. She envied him for knowing how to cook. She was still eating instant food mostly; she hadn't tried to make anything since the last fiasco.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them in line," she said giving his meal a sad look. She didn't recognize a single thing on his plate, but it still looked better than anything she had had in weeks. Why wasn't she forced to marry someone whose food she could eat? "Any of your people coming soon?"

"Haven't heard anything," he answered. "Besides it hasn't been long since we were allowed to have guests. I'm surprised your military let them go on such short notice."

"Me too, actually," she agreed. "But I imagine they're not awfully busy now that the war's over."

***

Shepard spent most of the day before her friends' arrival cleaning. Neither she nor Garrus were untidy by nature, but over the few weeks they lived here dust had settle over most surfaces. She knew they probably wouldn't even notice it, but it made her feel better. Later she and Garrus went to training room, but this time she stayed longer trying to get rid of the stiffness in her shoulder.

After the workout Shepard was in bedroom about to remove clothes, when she heard a knock on the door. Garrus peaked in. "Your guests are here."

"Already? Liara said they'll come tomorrow. Can you tell them to wait for a bit while I take a quick shower?" she said, pulling off her socks. He nodded and left.

When she went down to the living room, Kaidan and Joker were sitting there alone. She greeted them both with hugs.

"I expected you tomorrow," she said taking a good look at them. They both looked fine, better than when she left. With newly found peace she was sure there wasn't much trouble to get into especially with Anderson – he took a good care of those working under him.

"We got lucky - caught one flight earlier than planned," Kaidan explained. "How's your shoulder? We heard you had some nasty accident."

"It's alright, the asari doctors work wonders," she said, rubbing it on habit. She was about to ask about their trip, but Garrus came in the room and put his arm around her shoulders.

"What's my little human and her friends doing?" he purred near her ear. She was too shocked to say anything, she just looked at him in disbelief. _What the hell was he doing?_ He winked her in a way others couldn't see and slightly moved his right mandible in guests' direction. Their expressions were priceless – eyes wide and jaws open. She decided to play along, this was too good to pass.

"Just saying hello, came down a minute ago," she answered, putting her arm around his waist. This time he froze for a moment, but relaxed before others noticed. Garrus nuzzled her hair, the action sending pleasant shivers down her spine: "You smell good."

"Used that shampoo you like," she replied, flirty. She didn't think it was physically possible for her friends' jaws to drop any lower. He sat down on the chair, pulling Shepard onto his lap and rested his hands on her hips.

"So, Shepard said you three served on the same ship. You must know each other well," Garrus said. She could barely look at her friends' faces. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing out loud. She noticed Kaidan had balled his hands into fists; she knew the guy had a little crush on her and this act was probably a bit cruel, but Joker was gasping like a fish out of water. So worth it.

"Shepard," he purred again, when no one said anything for a while, "it's rude not to offer our guests some food. They're probably hungry after the long journey."

She just nodded still trying not to laugh and let him lead her to the kitchen. When the doors closed, Shepard let out all the laughter she was holding in, but careful not to make too much noise. Garrus looked extremely satisfied with himself. "Didn't know human faces could do that," he commented.

"What was that about?" she asked when caught her breath.

"While you were in the shower, they threatened to do all kinds of nasty things to me if I so much as… what did they say – touch a hair on your head? – never mind, you get the point. Even the sick one. This was a little payback," he answered.

"Sorry, didn't expect them to jump on you at the first chance. I'll talk to them," she apologized, but there was something she had to ask. His confidence bothered her a little. "What if I didn't join your little performance?"

"It was a quick idea, didn't think much about the details. But it was worth the risk," he answered. "Hope I didn't step too far over the line, I'm not really sure what humans find insulting."

"Don't worry. If you do something really rude, I'll let you know," she answered with an evil smirk, "the painful way."

"I'll keep that in mind," he smiled and turned to leave. "I won't bother you again, have fun."

Shepard almost asked him to join them, but decided not to – it might be too much for her friends on the first evening; they hadn't lived with a turian for three weeks after all. And she did have to explain his joke to them.


	5. Chapter 5

When Shepard returned to the living room with snacks and beers in her hands, she found her friends still completely confused and taken aback.

"You can stop looking at me like I just grew mandibles and a fringe. It was only a joke, Garrus wanted to get back at you for threatening him," she said with a grin, putting food on the table.

"You did look kind of turian sitting in his lap," Joker said, opening the beer. "I think I'll need something stronger than this after your show."

"Come on, we didn't do anything," she tried to defend herself. They both still looked bothered.

"You let him touch you," Kaidan pointed out, disgust in his voice.

"Yeah, if he touched me, I'd be swimming in antiseptic right now," Joker commented.

Shepard frowned. Was she weird because she didn't find Garrus' act disturbing? His touch was strange for her, three fingers instead of five, hard plates and sharp angles where their bodies pressed together, but it wasn't unpleasant. He was alien and different, but there were moments when she forgot about it completely, when he was just Garrus.

"Stop it," she said, "the war is over and we have to learn to live with each other. You're not helping my cause by talking like that. Or making threats."

"We were just making sure he knew his place," Kaidan said, "you're not alone. If he tries to hurt you…"

"He won't," Shepard said patiently, wondering where her confidence came from. Three weeks of living together? She barely knew anything about him, but letting them see any kind of doubt would only make things worse. "He had plenty of chances to kill or wound me and hasn't done anything. On the contrary, when I broke my shoulder he helped me all the time."

"You've been enemies for years. He might be planning for something or…" Kaidan argued, but she stopped him angrily: "Enough! He's my husband and I'm stuck living with him. How I choose to deal with this is none of your business and nothing you say will change how I see or treat him."

Shepard immediately regretted her outburst. It was rare for them to disagree about something. They trusted and respected each other, but there were lines that needed to be drawn even between best friends. This situation was complicated enough without them adding to it.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, interrupting the heavy silence that had settled over the room, "but this is something I need to deal with on my own, at least for now. I'm slowly starting to learn things about him and the turians. If you want to help, do the same, try to understand and keep the peace."

"If that's what you want," Kaidan said, just as quietly.

"Yeah, let's all try to be one big, weird, happy family," Joker said, relaxing. "Now can we talk about something that won't make someone start yelling? You have to hear about how Chakwas got drunk and went to Anderson's cabin."

It was well after midnight when they started to feel sleepy and no one mentioned Garrus again that evening. Kaidan and Joker dominated the conversation, telling Shepard what had happened on their ship since she had been gone, and in the galaxy overall because the house still didn't have an extranet connection. She wanted to ask what people outside the military thought about her marriage, but didn't want to return to the gloomy mood. She could ask them another time.

Joker was first to give in to exhaustion: "Shepard, show me where the guest bedroom is, I've had enough of you both tonight."

"You're not staying in a hotel?" she asked, surprised.

"The asari said you have two guest rooms," Kaidan explained, "didn't think you'd mind us staying here."

"I don't, but you should have warned me, I'm not living alone," Shepard said, standing up. "Besides, Garrus sleeps in one, so you either have to share or one will have to use the couch."

"I could share the bed with you," Joker said to Shepard.

"Dream on," she laughed, "and half the bed is for a turian. You do not want to try that."

"At least you're not sleeping together," Joker said, following. Kaidan stayed on the couch. "Yet."

Shepard woke up next morning with a small headache – they had switched to stronger drinks during the night. She wanted to stay in the bed longer, but she needed to catch Garrus before her friends woke up, so she took some painkillers, showered, and left the bedroom. She was halfway down the stairs, when she noticed that the most wonderful smell of eggs, bacon and coffee filled the air.

She entered the kitchen and found Joker sitting at the table, eating and Kaidan cooking. He gave her a plate with breakfast and mug of coffee, which she accepted with a big smile.

"You're my best friend in the whole galaxy," she said, sitting down.

"I figured you're not eating proper food as always," he said, joining them. "I don't think you realize what kind of expensive stuff is rotting in that fridge. You should learn to cook."

"The only reason we still have a kitchen is because she doesn't," said Garrus, coming in.

"Are you going to mention that for the rest of my life?" she asked, sipping coffee.

"I should, so that you don't get any funny ideas," he answered and looked at her plate curiously. "So that's how real human food looks."

"Yeah. Want to try some? Kaidan's a great cook," she said, moving it closer to him. "Or are you allergic?"

"No, not allergic," he answered, stepping back, "but it smells rather bad. Kind of makes me glad you can't cook."

She looked over to her friends who were quiet the whole time. They were both eating, looking tense and uncomfortable. Shepard knew Garrus had noticed it too.

"I should go, I have a lot to do. Enjoy your meal," he said, taking his drink and leaving.

"He won't bite, you know," Shepard said when he was gone.

"Haven't you noticed those big, sharp teeth made exactly for that?" Joker asked.

"You know what I mean. He was trying to be friendly. Can you at least _not_ignore him? Try to look past those teeth and spikes?" she asked, looking at them over the table.

"Fine, but don't expect much," Joker said, a bit annoyed and Shepard gave him a small smile. Kaidan didn't say anything on the subject, and instead tried to change it: "Forgot to tell you, we brought your armor and stuff. Anderson says hi."

Breakfast and Garrus were out of her mind immediately. "Where is it?" she asked, excited.

"In the car, but you'll have to finish your meal before we go get it," Kaidan said with a smile.

"We'll have to ask your husband to help get out the crates, took two dock workers to get them in, said they weight a ton," Joker added.

"I can take care of them by myself," Kaidan said bitterly.

"You can pull a muscle by yourself," he retorted, rolling his eyes.

...

She ended up asking Garrus for help and wounding Kaidan's pride when turian lifted and carried the crates by himself. Shepard followed him every step to make sure he didn't drop them or run into a wall.

"Put it down slowly and gently," she commanded in the basement.

"Shepard, it's made from reinforced steel, I could toss it from tenth floor and your stuff inside would stay intact," he answered, annoyed by her nagging.

"Don't you dare!"

"Need help to unpack?" Kaidan asked, stepping in the room.

"Yeah," she answered. "Want to join, Garrus?"

"And listen to you comment on my every action? I'll pass," he said, shaking his head. She did have feeling that the other human was the true reason he didn't stay.

"What happened there?" Kaidan asked and pointed at the huge hole in the wall when Garrus' footsteps had faded.

"That's the shot, that smashed my shoulder," she answered. It had gone right through. If she had hit Garrus, there wouldn't have been left much.

"Makes me wonder why we weren't torn into pieces by weapons like that during the war," he said, glancing at the sniper rifles still standing where they were before.

"Garrus said it is a special model, very rare," she explained, opening crates. "It was a gift from a friend when he got his Commander rank."

"You two really do get along, don't you?" he came to help.

"It's getting better with time. At first we barely spoke, but now I guess we're getting friendly," she told him honestly.

"I thought it would come to either this or you killing each other in first few days," he said, his voice sounding a bit sad. "I knew he would be trouble since the first time I saw you two together."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, straightening up.

"You're never concentrating only on one thing. You can do your job and think of other problems at the same time. Even when resting or having fun there will always be something else on your mind," he explained, frowning, "except when with him. When you two met on the battlefield it felt like you had forgotten about everything – the mission, team, other enemies – and just chased him. And it's the same here – when he comes in, you no longer see anyone else."

"I'm not sure what your point is, but I'm not in love with him or have any feelings like that," Shepard answered.

"I don't know what's going on in your mind or your heart, but it feels like he has stolen you from me without even trying," he said, looking down. Shepard sighed, rubbing her forehead. This conversation went exactly where she didn't want it to go.

"Kaidan, I was never yours," she answered. "I've never seen you as more than a friend and even if I did, you know what I think about fraternization." She had some painful experiences in the past and she promised herself to not let it happen again. Mixing the job with feelings was never a good idea.

Kaidan didn't answer, wearing the same expression he had when they talked about it the first time. Back then Kaidan had expressed his interest, but when Shepard rejected him they still agreed to be just friends. Did he hope that she'd change her mind? He was a nice guy and some girls would kill to get him as a boyfriend, just not her. And he was wrong about her and Garrus. Sure, the turian always knew how to get her attention, but not in the way Kaidan was putting it.

They continued to unpack, neither of them saying anything. Shepard had a habit of taking every new gun she found after battle so by now she had quite a collection. It took some time to sort them out and after they hadn't talked for a while, she decided they needed a break.

"I'll go get us something to drink," Shepard said, putting away a pistol.

She got only halfway up the stairs, wondering if there would be jealous turian women coming to her house soon, when she heard Joker's voice.

"So, Vakarian," he said and Shepard froze. She was glad that he was taking her advice and was trying to talk to Garrus, but then again, it was Joker. He wasn't exactly known for his tact.

"Do you like Shepard?" he asked.

"I… she's alright I guess," Garrus sounded confused.

"Do you find her attractive?" Joker continued.

"What?" she could almost imagine him stir uncomfortably, "I've never thought of her that way."

"Never? She is considered pretty hot by human standards," he told Garrus. Shepard really wanted smack him in the head to make him shut up, but her feet didn't move.

"I've never been interested in other species," came the answer.

"But you married Shepard."

"To secure the peace," Garrus explained patiently. "I really don't think she agreed to this, because she wanted to sleep with me."

"So turians have sex?" Joker asked curiously.

"No, we reproduce by splitting in half and regrowing missing limbs," sarcasm was dripping from his answer.

"That explains why you need face paint to tell each other apart."

Garrus let out a long sigh and Shepard retreated silently, trying to find a good reason not to kill Joker. Her day was turning from great into barely endurable. There would be drinking again tonight.

Her friends left the next evening – they needed to get back before ship's maintenance was finished. Shepard noticed Garrus and Joker talking again later that day, but Kaidan stubbornly refused to even greet the turian. The house felt strangely quiet without them. Having guests was somehow tiring, but she knew she'd start missing them soon.

Shepard decided to follow Kaidan's advice and learn to cook at least something; those few days with him had spoiled her, so she asked Liara to come over and teach her how to make that stew she couldn't get out of her mind.

"How was your friends' visit?" she asked, cutting some kind of purple meat.

"Nice, I missed having humans around," Shepard answered, chopping vegetables. At least she was good with a knife.

"No problems with Garrus?" Liara asked.

"None," she said, thinking whether the conversation she overheard between him and Joker would count as trouble. Neither of them had mentioned anything later. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"I'm listening."

"Has Garrus spoken to you about getting a new bed?" she asked. A few days ago Garrus asked her to bring something from his room and she noticed he didn't have a turian bed. Somehow she had assumed that one guest room was for her friends, the other for his.

"No, why would he?" the asari looked surprised.

"He's been sleeping on a human bed in the guest room all this time. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must've been," Shepard explained.

"Why don't you two sleep together?" she asked, looking puzzled.

"You know we don't have that kind of relationship," Shepard pointed out, frowning.

"Can you sleep in one bed only if you have sex?" Liara asked with mischievous smile.

"No, but, there's a _line_… we're… it's… damn it Liara, you know why we don't," actually she couldn't really find good enough argument. At first it was logical that they would stay away from each other, but now, if it was for the sake of comfort...

"Not really, you've been getting closer lately and if you wanted something more, well… you do know humans and turians are _compatible_, right?" she continued her assault. Of course Shepard knew, she was in military and had heard all kinds of stories, many she'd rather forget. There were various people on both sides. "Turians are the most popular species among asari for a reason."

_Where did the shy, quiet asari go?_

"Have you been with a turian?" Shepard asked.

"I… well there was this one time…" she finally got flustered. "Wait, we're talking about you right now."

"God, why is everyone suddenly interested if we'll sleep together?" she cut the vegetable angrily.

"You are the most unusual couple in the galaxy right now. Everyone is watching you," she answered. "And the fact that details are kept secret just adds to it. Even I have no idea about what happens when I'm gone."

"Just get the bed, please," Shepard said with a heavy sigh.


	6. Chapter 6

Days went by peaceful as always with nothing particular to do. Their game collection had grown considerably, both trying to find a way to outmatch the other. Some evenings they'd spend watching vids and old movies, explaining customs of their respective cultures and finding out that many things were common. Others they'd be in the shooting range, Garrus teaching Shepard how to use a sniper rifle with one of his lightest models. Her shoulder had healed nice and quick, though it would get stiff if overworked. One day she came up with another way to pass time – rearranging.

The house was nice of course, small and cozy and Liara had done a great job of furnishing it, but some things could use improvement. Thankfully they had a big storage room rented full of furniture and decor sent as gifts for their wedding mostly from people they didn't even know, so they didn't have to waste time in shops. Garrus found a dinner table and sawed its legs in half and put it in place of the small table in front of the couch – now they both could rest their legs on it when sitting; the previous one he had seized it for himself. Shepard found two matching nightstands and set them at the each end of the said couch for snacks and drinks.

There were also nice, big leather office chairs that found a place at their workbenches, replacing the uncomfortable stools that made her back ache if she sat there for too long. She removed the curtains in most of the house – she didn't like when something obscured the view - they didn't have any practical function since the windows regulated the amount of light let through according to the settings. Garrus admitted hating the carpets, more antique décor in their house – it was obvious that someone with a passion for history had arranged it. He caught his claws in the plush when he walked around barefoot so they got rid of them as well. They made many other little changes, but now they both could call the place home.

One late evening, when it was already dark outside, they were in the range. Shepard was having another sniping lesson from Garrus and they discussed what else could be done in the house.

"I had an interesting conversation with Liara today," he said, adjusting the position of her right arm.

"Really?" she asked, focusing on the target.

"Yeah," he answered after she had shot. "I asked if it was possible for me to get a new bed and she said that you already ordered one for me two weeks ago and it would arrive in few days."

She lowered the gun and looked at him feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I noticed you didn't have a suitable one."

"Thanks, that's very kind," he said smiling, his gaze warm. "I was wondering though…" he was interrupted by a chime coming from his omnitool. "Liara?"

"Group of people are approaching the house fast from the forest. Probably an attack," the asari said, concerned. "They'll be there in five minutes, reinforcements for you in ten."

"Finally some action," Shepard said, throwing away the rifle and running for her armor, Garrus following.

"I'm on my way as well, just hold on for a little while," Liara kept talking as they dressed, putting on the pieces of armor like it hadn't been months since they last wore them. They were done in minutes and headed up, weapons in hands, Garrus cutting off the call. They turned off all lights they could, letting their eyes adjust to the night outside. The attackers would most likely use the kitchen or living room window to get in the house, so they both stayed on the stairs waiting for them to make a move. Six minutes had passed when a blast shook the house – they blew up the whole living room wall.

Shepard rolled into cover behind the couch's arm rest – not the safest place, but she needed to be close for her shotgun to be most effective. Garrus took position in the kitchen's entrance behind her. Shepard counted ten enemies – turians – before dust settled and they opened fire. But it didn't matter who they were – if someone messed with her things, they'd pay, and these guys just messed up a lot.

The intruders were well trained, but no match for them both. They slowly took out the attackers one by one. There were six left when she noticed two splitting from the group and retreating behind the house. Shepard frowned. _Would they try to sneak up on them from behind? _No, they were clearly visible when they left, they wouldn't surprise them. There was something else on their minds.

"Garrus, take the backdoor and find the two who left," Shepard shouted without looking back. He was closer and could leave the house without going through the line of fire. The shots continued to come from where he stood - he didn't move. _"Why isn't he going?" _she thought, taking out another turian while Garrus headshot one that was closing on her from the left side. Shepard didn't get a chance to repeat her order as the house was hit by another explosion, much bigger this time. The shock wave pushed her out of cover and she felt something heavy land on her. She cursed her hate for helmets as she knocked out by falling debris.

...

The first thing Shepard noticed as she slowly woke up was headache. She was lying on her back, but there was no heaviness on her body as she tried to move – so she wasn't buried under debris and didn't have the armor on. She felt a warm hand cup her face as she gathered strength to open her eyes. An asari medic was taking care of the wound on her forehead.

"Stay still just a moment longer," she said and Shepard obeyed. When the medic moved away, she slowly rose to sit. First she noticed there were dozens of asari, each doing something else, but that wasn't surprising, they were living in their colony. However, the number of them was - she even saw a few commandos. Her eyes fell on Garrus who was sitting on a stretcher, the same kind she was sleeping on a moment ago, and watched as a doctor cleaned a cut on his neck. She felt relief – at least he wasn't hurt badly.

She finally focused on the house. She stood up and walked closer, limping a little. There wasn't much left to look at. Half of it was gone, the other was covered in the remains of walls and furniture. She was surprised at the sadness and regret she felt. She'd gotten more attached to this house in less than two months than to any ship she had lived on for years. It was her home. _Their_home.

Garrus came to her and put his hand on her shoulder, recognizing the same emotions she felt visible in his eyes. "We'll get the ones responsible."

"You won't have to," Liara said, joining them. "There is a special team made to deal with this."

"We can do it ourselves," Shepard said.

"It wasn't my decision and it isn't yours," she answered. "We expected something like this to happen, but not so soon. Your house was under surveillance, cameras and scanners several kilometers around it and more were planned to be added soon, but…"

They were all silent for a moment. Shepard wondered if she will see this place again, if it will be rebuilt for them or just left and forgotten.

"There are many groups among both turians and humans who are against peace and many see you as the weak link," Liara said quietly.

"So now what?" Garrus asked.

"You have an apartment on the Citadel, you'll be staying there until something else is decided," she explained. "I'll be sitting in meetings, trying not to kill myself for getting into this mess. Goddess, I'm an archeologist, not a security specialist."

"How did you go from that to being in charge of us?" Shepard asked in disbelief.

"I…" the asari suddenly looked as scared and nervous as when they first met. "Look, the car's here, it will take us to the ship," she said and hurried past them.

The ship they traveled in was small, but since the journey wouldn't take more than a few hours and the three of them were the only passengers it wasn't really a problem. Shepard thought about trying to get some sleep, but the seats weren't comfortable and there was a lot on her mind. Would they be attacked again? Not that she minded a good fight, but changing houses every two months could get annoying. How would their lives change from now on? And what was wrong with Liara? She had gotten over her fear of them rather quickly before, but now it was back – she was sitting opposite them, stirring uncomfortably the entire time, trying hard to avoid looking at them. Soon she excused herself saying she was thirsty.

"Liara's acting strange," Shepard said when she was sure the asari wouldn't hear her. "I think she's hiding something."

"Maybe it's just stress?" Garrus looked away from the window. "While you were unconscious, she told me the house exploded right before her eyes and she thought we were dead for a while."

"Maybe," she answered and decided to take this chance to ask him another thing that was bothering her. "In the house, during the fight, why didn't you go after the two who set explosives when I told you to?" She knew that even if he had it was unlikely he could stop them from blowing up their home, a different thought was bothering her.

"I didn't think you could deal with the ones that stayed," he answered.

"So, you don't trust me," Shepard said and couldn't help but to feel disappointed.

"It's not like that. If I had gone and they killed you… You were in a bad spot and we had a better chance of taking them out if we stayed together," he explained, looking away.

"Still, you didn't trust my judgment or skill," Shepard pointed out stubbornly. She wouldn't admit it to him, but one of the reasons why she was so upset about it was because in the Alliance on the field nobody questioned her. On missions she was usually allowed do things her way and those that came with her followed her lead. But Garrus wasn't someone under her, he didn't have to follow her orders and she didn't like it.

"I was just making sure you get out alive," he said and that stopped Shepard complaining both aloud and in her thoughts. She looked at him surprised, not sure how to answer to that, but Liara returned moments later and they all sat in an uncomfortable silence for the rest of the trip.


	7. Chapter 7

Their Citadel apartment was small: two bedrooms and a living room with a kitchen in one corner separated by a counter. The rooms were spacious enough to be comfortable, but it was very different from having a house. Shepard didn't notice much else when they arrived and fell asleep almost immediately when got to the bed.

She woke up at noon and spent some time just lying on the bed, thinking. She was getting lazy. Shepard was used to strong discipline on ships and the first few weeks in the house felt weird, but now that she finally was starting to get accustomed to this new life, it was taken away. Maybe the committee will let them return to serving in the military. Or decide that they're too much trouble and just annul their marriage. Would she see Garrus again if that happened? Isn't that what she silently wished for all along? She realized that the possibility of the next few days being the last they spend together made her actually sad; there was heaviness in her chest when she thought about saying goodbye.

Shepard pulled herself together – the committee might as well buy them a new house and keep Garrus and her there for a few years making them wish someone would blow it up just for a change in their everyday life.

When she finally got out of the bed, she found Garrus drinking coffee in the kitchen corner– she had talked him into tasting it and he admitted he liked it. Since then he would sometimes substitute his morning drink with it, though coffee didn't have any effect on him. She took a cup for herself and sat down next to him.

"How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Like usual, still no turian bed, but I'm not sure I remember what it's like to sleep in one," he answered, turning to face her. "I've been thinking about yesterday and how things will be from now. I came to a conclusion that there is one good thing about what happened."

"Oh, really? What is that?" Shepard asked, wondering if he had the same thoughts as she did this morning.

"We're no longer locked up in one place, now we have the whole Citadel," he answered, "so I was wondering - would you'd like to celebrate our new freedom with me? We could get some clothes that haven't seen a battlefield, have a dinner that we didn't need to make and later get wasted at a bar or club."

"I like your ideas," she answered with huge grin. "Do you know where to go?"

"I know all the nice places on the Citadel," he said, smiling back.

Unfortunately his list of nice places didn't include shops with human clothes. He got himself new ones quickly, the Citadel was full of turians, but humans were rare. Shepard knew there were some who lived here when the war was still going on and now more were coming each day, but they were a minority, so she had to stick with asari clothes for start, who probably just to spite her wore long dresses. She bought one just to get out of the dirty, torn clothing she arrived in and refused to leave the shopping district until she had found pants.

They stopped at Presidium Lake to rest a little. Shepard took in the sight – this place was certainly impressive. She looked into the water over the railing – it was so clear and calm.

"Are there any fish?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

"The water looks so inviting, is there anywhere to swim?" it had been ages since she had a chance to do that.

"Haven't heard of any, but if you decide to do it anyway, don't expect me to save you when you start drowning," he answered. "Turians don't swim."

"Too bad humans didn't know that before – would've taken the front line to Kahje and won in few weeks," she said amused. "Are you sure you want to tell such strategically important information to an Alliance soldier?"

He gave her a suspicious look and she punched his shoulder playfully. "I'm just joking."

Their light conversation was interrupted by a human woman approaching them; she was the first human they actually saw on the Citadel. Her hair was dark, so was her skin and she also wore the typical Citadel dress.

"Are you Commander Shepard?" she asked, avoiding looking at Garrus.

"Yes, I am," she said, surprised that she was recognized.

"Khalisah bint Sinan Al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Would you agree to answer a few questions?" she asked, camera drone appearing from nowhere.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Shepard said, stepping back. She had a bad feeling about this reporter and the subject. It would be for the best to send her to Liara or someone else from the committee.

"There are a lot of rumors and little facts known about you and your situation. This is a great opportunity for our viewers to learn the truth," reporter said and before Shepard could answer anything the drone powered up and Al-Jilani started. "Marriage between a human and a turian was an unexpected term in the peace treaty since such political marriages are uncommon in both modern human and turian societies. Why did the Alliance allow this to happen?"

_Because some crazy asari and salarians told them to _she thought, but answered in the most diplomatic way she could: "This war was started because of an unfortunate misunderstanding. We will serve as an example that the turians and humans can get along. During the few months we've spent together, we've developed mutual respect and understanding. "

"Still, a marriage should be a way to bond two people in love, not used as a way to influence others' opinions," she said switching to the next question. "Many are worried that you could be used as a way to manipulate and control humanity."

"I don't have the rank high enough to really influence any decisions made by the government," she started to see where this was going. The interview needed to end and the sooner, the better. "Besides both I and my partner are strong, confident and capable individuals, we wouldn't be manipulated easily."

"About him – do you think it was correct to choose someone who is called by many the number one enemy of humanity and has led operations that resulted in death of hundreds of Alliance soldiers?" reporter asked, looking dissatisfied.

Shepard hesitated, surprised by the question –she could easily name at least ten terrorists responsible for the deaths of thousands that were much more of an enemy to humanity than Garrus had ever been. Did the woman understand what a war was? "The count of dead soldiers on both sides was similar; turians could call me the same."

"Excuse me, reporter," Garrus said, stepping beside Shepard, his omnitool disappearing. "There seems to be something wrong with your drone."

It twitched few times in air and fell down, light in the middle fading. Shepard used the chance to grab Al-Jilani's dress and yank her closer, their faces centimeters apart.

"If I hear you've used that footage or that you've said a single bad word about me or my husband, you'll learn why I'm called the best soldier in the Alliance," she threatened, then turned around and left with Garrus by her side, a bit slower than she'd like because of the dress.

"Somehow I feel more important and dangerous right now," he said, glancing back.

"She was just flattering," Shepard answered smiling. "Thanks for stepping in."

"You two were starting to get carried away," he said, leading her into another shop. "We still need to get you clothes and make it in time for the dinner."

When she was finally dressed in something comfortable, he took her to a restaurant that served both turian and asari food. She didn't mind it since there was probably less than five places on the whole Citadel that served human meals and unlike asari taste in clothes, the food was good.

There was only one thing that bothered their evening – the constant attention from those around them. At first Shepard interpreted the stares as curiosity and interest in her species and that Al-Jilani knowing her was an exception because of her profession and being human. But when some started to take pictures of them both, she understood what the big deal was. There was probably only one human and one turian in the whole galaxy right now that would walk around together, shopping and having dinner - the most interesting couple on Galaxy, as Liara had put it. When she was told that everyone was interested in them, Shepard didn't think she really meant _everyone_.

"Looks like we're the number one attraction on the Citadel right now," she commented, glancing around after sipping wine.

"Yeah, didn't think of that when asked you out," he said frustrated, cutting his food.

"Relax, it's not that bad," Shepard said with smile, "at least they're not asking for autographs and stalking us."

"I actually wouldn't mind signing something," he answered, smiling back. "Or getting fan gifts. It would make me feel like a celebrity."

"That's exactly what you need because your ego isn't big enough already," she retorted. Garrus just laughed and continued his meal, but his posture remained stiff, expressing that he actually did not feel comfortable with the attention. "How about we finish the meal quickly and get to that club? Maybe it will be better there."

"Agreed," he answered, eating faster.

The club was a nice one, big and full of people. It had three floors, lots of asari dancers which Shepard watched for a while curiously, and a nice corner reserved for the two of them, away from curious glances – Garrus knew the owner.

"I like this place," she said, when the drinks arrived. "Before I usually went to less fancy more dirty ones to drink – didn't have money enough or the shore leaves were on some shitty colonies or space stations."

"We're famous and important now, we need to have some class," he answered, smirking.

Shepard laughed. "We'll see how much class you'll have when I'll be dragging your drunk ass home."

"What makes you think that you'll be the one doing the dragging?" Garrus asked amused.

"Experience– everyone is drunk under the table when I'm just warming up," she answered, emptying her glass.

"You can't expect to outdrink a turian – you're just a small human female," he said, emptying his.

"Oh, you'll see by the end of the night," Shepard answered, ordering another round.

Few hours later she cursed herself for having to turn everything into a contest with Garrus. She had already drunk more than she usually did in a night– and it couldn't be more than two a.m. They had asked the asari waitress to leave the empty glasses and if she could still count straight, he was winning. She looked up to him – at some point they had come to sit close together on the sofa surrounding the table instead of being opposite each other. He looked back with a relaxed expression.

"Have I ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?" she asked.

"Are you hitting on me, Shepard?" he asked amused.

"Dream on," she answered and drank whatever it was in her glass now. Garrus took her hand when she put it down and studied it.

"There is something I've been wondering about for some time," he said, playing with her fingers. "How come when there are only few turians better than me, I find an equal in the species that is by all standards inferior?"

"You know what the problem is?" she asked after thinking for some time.

"What?" he asked and took another sip from his drink, swaying a little when putting the glass down.

"You don't take the humanity seriously enough," Shepard answered. "Humans might not be as _advanced or strong_ as the turians, but there still are many things you can learn from us."

"Like what?" he asked.

She leaned back to take a good look at him, then smiled slyly: "Have you ever been kissed, Vakarian?"

He looked back at her. "No."

"Then let me show you," she said, taking his face in her hands and pressing her lips against his mouth. He didn't push her away, instead placing his hands around her waist and returned the kiss the best he could. She took that as permission to continue. She parted her lips and brushed her tongue against his mouth. She felt his mandibles tickle her cheeks as his opened to let his own tongue touch hers. She felt, as she explored, it was different from humans, but she was too drunk and too busy to think how exactly. He repeated her movements, slowly and a bit shyly; it made her forget how to breathe for a moment and she had to unwillingly break away.

"You're a quick learner," Shepard said, taking a deep breath.

"I am if I like the subject. But a little more practice wouldn't hurt," he said, pulling her in his lap. He kissed her again, showing her exactly what he had learned and making her head spin. Or maybe it was the alcohol. She didn't care, this was getting _really, really_ nice. She felt his hands find their way under her shirt, getting to know her skin; they were a lot softer than she had imagined. _When did he lose his gloves?_ It didn't matter. Her own hands traveled behind his head, under fringe and from the way he pulled their bodies closer Shepard realized he liked it. She played along the edges of plates, brushed fingers slightly over the soft skin and felt more than heard a satisfied sound coming deep from his chest. Shepard felt his thumbs going over the bottom line of her bra, just under her breasts, but not touching them even through cloth. She wanted nothing more than to feel the soft, leathery hands on them, but couldn't say anything, his tongue still in her mouth.

He broke the kiss this time, licking along her jawline, over neck and behind the ear. She sighed happily, but he stopped. She was about to ask what's wrong, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Having fun?" Shepard turned her head, brushing her cheek against Garrus'. Behind her was a turian, white markings especially bright in club's light, green eyes glowing. He looked amused sitting relaxed and watching them.

"Go away," Garrus said, sounding annoyed. The turian laughed.

"I could. But I also might take you home, away from strangers' eyes and keep you from making a diplomatic incident," he said, standing up. Garrus looked her in the eyes, gave a quick last kiss and pushed her away from him. The other turian in the meantime had grabbed the asari waitress' hand and fried her omnitool with his own.

"These two are under the Council's protection, no pictures or vids allowed," he said releasing her and gesturing them to follow.

Garrus pulled Shepard by her hand, bumping someone once in a while on their way out. It felt like only seconds had passed when she found herself sitting in the backseat of a car, both turians in front.

"You're both icons, supposed to show an example of what humans and turians relationship should be like now, after the war, but instead of doing something politically correct, I find you in a club, drunk and making out, not giving a fuck about anything," stranger said. "I've never been more proud of you, Garrus."

"Shut up," he answered, drunkenly, but the turian just laughed again.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked. Apparently they both knew each other.

"Nihlus Kryik, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance," he answered.

…

Shepard didn't remember anything after that, apparently she passed out in the car. She woke up in her bed with the worst hangover she ever had and chaos in her mind. Last night had destroyed what little clarity she had about her and Garrus' relationship. Until then, she was completely sure that neither of them was interested in other in a sexual way – he had said so to Joker and she was sure where she stood when she talked to Liara. But then he was so close, her hand in his, his voice…

Maybe she kissed him just because she was drunk – she did drink a lot and so did he. She had done stupid things before in that state. It wasn't the kissing that bothered her – it was good, as much as she remembered and Garrus was her husband after all. The problem was that he was from _different fucking species_. How could she be attracted to someone who didn't even look like a human? Had she become a xenophile while living away from her own kind?

After laying in bed for some time and thinking as hard as her aching brain allowed, she came to a conclusion that it wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen – to actually be attracted to Garrus. She had pretty much bid farewell to her sex life when she agreed to marry him – a marriage, even if it was a political one, was a sacred thing to her and she didn't plan on cheating. So if he was interested and they could make it work… But she needed to be sure before doing anything. If she pushed for more and then in the middle of sex suddenly understood she didn't like it and found it disgusting, she wouldn't bear to be in the same room with him afterwards from shame.

She simply needed to find a way to figure out her attraction to him without giving away what she was doing. _Great, things couldn't get easier_, she thought bitterly.

Shepard pushed the blanket aside. She was thirsty, in pain and lying around made her thoughts run too wild. It all pointed to getting out of the bed finally.

When she walked out from her room, she found Garrus sitting at the counter, his arms and forehead resting on it and Nihlus standing on the other side smirking.

She muttered a weak greeting, coming closer. Garrus didn't answer, only raised a hand, but the other turian was much livelier: "Good morning, Shepard. We were just talking about the funny things people do when drunk. Have any stories to share?"

"Not really," she answered, hoping her cheeks weren't blushed. "But I once beat a guy half to death because he talked too much next morning."

"I can see why you get along so well," he said, turning to Garrus. "You've always liked the aggressive type."

He didn't answer, just groaned.

"So, why is there a Spectre in my kitchen?" Shepard asked, after drinking two glasses of water and getting the third.

"Just visiting an old friend," he answered, gesturing to the other turian.

"Friends don't leave each other to die on a fucking asteroid to chase a suspect," Garrus said without raising his head.

"I didn't leave you to die –you had plenty of oxygen, a shuttle coming to pick you up and that was a well-known terrorist, not a suspect," he answered.

"You still left me," he said, annoyed.

"He's just grumpy because I woke him up and hid the pain meds," he explained to Shepard, looking very satisfied with himself.

"You're not a very nice person, aren't you?" she asked, feeling sorry for Garrus.

"Ladies like the bad boys, who am I to disappoint?" he answered, winking.

"Just tell us what you want," Garrus finally lifted his head. Nihlus went to the oven, took a bottle of pills out of it and threw it to his friend. When he had swallowed more than Shepard thought was necessary, the Spectre suddenly became serious.

"I wanted to know what your plans for the future are," he said, leaning against the counter.

"Nothing specific, I'm just waiting for whatever the committee decides to do with us next," Garrus answered with a noticeable change in his voice.

"How about I offer you both a way out? Getting free from the committee, governments and militaries?" he asked, eyes going from one to other, "Become Spectres, I'll put your names forward. You both have made yourselves known during the war; things might move slower for Shepard, but I believe the goal can be reached."

Room grew quiet after that. Shepard knew what Spectres were and what they did and an opportunity to become one was tempting. Still the offer was completely unexpected and she wondered if there was a catch.

"No offense, but why does a turian want a human as Spectre?" she asked, unable to hide the suspicion in her voice.

"I wasn't in the war, I hold no grudges and I don't care what species you are. I know that you are a capable soldier and that humanity is an ambitious bunch. I would rather see it led forward in the galactic community by someone with the right intentions, not a two-faced politician," Nihlus explained.

"Still, you don't know me, what if I use that position for selfish goals?" It bothered her how easily this opportunity was given to her.

"If he's ok with this, that's all I need to know," he answered with a nod towards Garrus. He had been silent for the whole conversation, thinking, and when they both looked at him questioningly, he gave an affirming nod.

Shepard wasn't sure what surprised her more – the offer or how much trust Nihlus put in Garrus' opinion. His last statement changed the way she saw their relationship completely.

"Think about it, I'll come by again tomorrow," he said, glancing at his omnitool. "I should go annoy someone else. Oh, look, it's Councilor Sparatus time. He's always so glad to see me."

He went through the door without saying another word, leaving them both immersed in their own thoughts. Shepard had no idea what to do –she should probably contact the Alliance, Anderson, Liara, maybe the new human ambassador. Her head was spinning from to-do list. Would she even be allowed to become a Spectre? Would Garrus? They were no longer just soldiers. They had the burden of their marriage on their shoulders, so many people looking at them… Did they do more good by standing aside, living together in some far away colony or traveling around the Galaxy, fighting the bad guys? She looked at Garrus, but there was no answer in his blue eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

They both sat in silence for some time just looking at each other. Nihlus certainly knew how to leave an impression and his ideas were rather interesting. The more Shepard thought about it, the more sure she was that she wanted this – she wanted to become a Spectre. And with Garrus – if they learned how to work together, to really trust each other – could it actually be better? If things from now on would finally go well, she'd have to go apologize to everyone she shouted at and threatened to kill when the marriage was forced on her.

"Can this really happen? You and me – Spectres?" she asked.

"I don't know. Nihlus always had crazy ideas, but they worked for the most time – he would be dead otherwise. But this sounds too good to be true," Garrus answered.

That's what she was afraid of – hoping, really wishing for this to happen and then someone telling her it's impossible. She already gave up the rest of her life for the unknown – would some reward for that really be too much to ask?

"Do you think I can do it? That I'm good enough?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

"I couldn't bring you down for ten years no matter how hard I tried. No one could. You're brave, talented and smart – I can't think of more perfect candidate," he answered, putting a hand lightly on her leg. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

"Thanks, it means a lot to hear you say that," she said, smiling. "But what do you want? Are you going to take his offer?"

"I actually wanted to become a Spectre when I was younger, but my father stopped me," Garrus explained. "Then the war started and there was no time to think about it. Now – there is no reason not to do it. Especially if it would be with you."

"I'd like that," she said and suddenly really wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and kiss him, but stopped herself. She needed to figure things out before going there.

"We sure drank a lot last night. I thought I was dying when Nihlus woke me up," he said a bit later.

"I know the feeling. How come I do more stupid things since we've been living together?" Shepard asked, at the same time fearing that he might bring up the conclusion of the evening.

"There have been nice and fun things as well," he said with a little laugh, leaning closer. She started to draw closer to him as well, but then caught herself.

"I must look terrible, I haven't even changed my clothes from yesterday," Shepard said, sitting back.

"I like how you look," Garrus pushed a strand of hair away from her eye with his free hand. _Why did he have to make things harder?_

"Still, a shower wouldn't hurt," she said, standing up and letting go of his hand. She heard him rising from his seat as well as she moved towards her room. "That's a good idea."

Shepard froze. _Is he… Will he take a shower with me?_ she thought suddenly, halting midstride. Images of them both, naked in the small cabin, bodies close together, the warm water trickling down appeared in her mind. She sighed quietly. Fuck discretion and understanding. She lived her whole life risking, why wait now? But as she turned to say something flirty and pull him in her room, she saw Garrus' back disappearing in his own room. _So that's not what he meant_. She felt both disappointed and relieved, not sure which more.

She emerged from her room an hour later, feeling more like herself again. Garrus was either still in his or had left the apartment – she wasn't sure if she wanted to see him right away; her new resolve had disappeared as quickly as it had popped up, leaving confusion once again. It seemed like he knew what he wanted – the way he talked, touched her – she would have to be especially dense to not understand. At least she didn't have to worry about that. But it wasn't enough to stop her from holding back.

She had always been good at drawing lines, but everything became more blurry whenever they were together. She was sure, though, that after how far they've gotten regarding each other, going back to the distant relationship they had before was not an option for her.

Thankfully, there was another matter that needed her attention and distracted her from Garrus' problem: becoming a Spectre. But things weren't much easier there. She had a faint idea to whom she should turn first, though she wasn't sure if there was a point – if the Council didn't find her good enough, no one she could talk to would change their minds.  
…

She started at the embassies. The new ambassador seemed pleased that this option was presented to her so soon, though from the way he talked about the Councilor position, she had suspicion that it was for the good of his own career. He was probably one of the politicians that Nihlus mentioned. Shepard also managed to talk to Liara – she called back after three missed calls and two messages. She promised to get some information on her chances and to meet her tomorrow for lunch. For the rest of the day she walked around the Citadel thinking about Garrus, the previous day and her future, wondering why she couldn't keep living her life solving problems with guns. Relationship and emotional stuff just wasn't her strong side.

When she got home Garrus was already waiting for her. He had picked up dinner and set the food on the counter for them both. There was even wine. She wasn't romantic by nature, but she could still appreciate the gesture. He really wasn't going to make things easier.

"I hope you haven't eaten the dinner yet" he said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I thought you might be hungry after being away all day. Though if you did eat, don't mind this."

"No, I actually haven't eaten yet," she answered, smiling and walking closer. "But drinking two days in a row – not sure my brain cells and liver will survive."

"Of course, should have thought better," he said, taking the bottle away from the table awkwardly. She put her hand on his forearm to stop him: "But I'm sure one glass won't hurt."

While they ate she told him about her day, the meeting with Liara tomorrow and doubts about becoming a Spectre, but her mind was only partly in the conversation. Her eyes followed his every movement trying to figure out if she found him attractive. But in the end there was no point – he was too distracting for her to just sit and analyze. He'd ask her something or brush his hand or knee against her and that would sweep all thoughts from her head. At the end she just gave up and enjoyed the evening with him.

"This was exactly what I needed," she said after dinner, stretching, Garrus looking at her the same way he did the previous night between kisses. She stopped herself from shivering. "Now a good, long sleep and I'll be the happiest human on the Citadel."

"Already? It's still early," he said, looking confused.

She felt bad about leaving like this after all the nice things he had done today, but she needed to get away before that risk-loving, reckless side of her took control again. "I had a long day and my hangover isn't gone yet," she answered, then jumped off from the stool, put her hands on his neck and pressed small kiss on his mandible. "Thank you."

She retreated to her room quickly after that and before he had a chance to stop her. When the door closed behind her she let out a deep sigh – if things would keep going like this, one of them would jump the other and it would turn out to be either the best or worst thing that had happened in her life.

…

The next day she stayed in bed longer than usual to avoid meeting Garrus. Shepard left shortly before the lunch with Liara, skipping her morning coffee. She had to pass through the Presidium shopping district that reminded her of the time she spent with Garrus. She wanted to repeat it someday– just walking around, talking, relaxing.

Liara was waiting for her when she arrived. She took a seat opposite her to enjoy the great view over Presidium Lake behind her.

"How's the apartment?" she asked after a greeting.

"It's nice, though having a house has spoiled me," Shepard answered.

"We haven't decided yet whether to rebuild it or just buy you a new one – if you want one, of course," she said. "Your personal things we managed to save will arrive in few days."

They didn't talk about the reason they were here until the food was brought to them, Shepard asking about the attackers. The team Liara had mentioned before already had leads on the group and they would soon be arrested.

"So, what did you find out about the Spectre's offer?" Shepard finally asked, sipping water.

"Not much yet," the asari answered after tasting her meal. "I wouldn't hope for anything soon. Your situation is unique – while you're great soldier and your service record is good enough to be considered for the position, humanity just ended a war with a Council species and you've had the embassy here only for a few months. I don't think the Council will approve of you right away. Beside your marriage will be in the way as well – it won't be long before you two will have to appear in various events, and being away on a mission just won't be enough of an excuse."

With every word Liara became sadder and Shepard couldn't hide the disappointment from her face. So it _was_ too good to be true.

"It will be easier for Garrus. If he plays his cards right, even the committee won't object – they probably will want to have at least one of you under control and you're the easiest one," she continued looking distressed. "I'm so sorry. I promise, I'll do everything I can to make sure you become a Spectre."

"It's alright, it's not like you're at fault for my misfortunes," she said after a while, playing with her food. That didn't make Liara look better. If anything, it only made it worse. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words and Shepard let it go this time.

Shepard spent her walk home in a foul mood. She refused Liara's offer of taking her there by car, choosing to walk instead. There were still curious glances and one or two pictures taken, but she didn't care. Shepard was upset, but the answer wasn't unexpected – the peace had lasted only three months and no one would allow a human in such powerful position right away, not even her. But Liara didn't say never. If she could get the committee to allow her to take some missions, she could prove herself; there was still hope.

When Shepard came into the apartment she found a few guns on the stand next to the doors – so they had a guest, Nihlus most likely. There was no sign of the turians in the living room, but the door to Garrus' room was open and she could hear their voices from inside.

"You're the last person I would take an advice from," said Garrus.

"Come on, there is hardly any turian with more experience than me," his friend answered.

"This isn't just some fling, Nihlus."

"But the problem still is that you can't get her into bed, isn't it?" he answered. "Actually I'm surprised – what's taking you so long? That night before she was all over you."

_Why did she always run into those conversations?_

"I can't afford to mess this up. Maybe she didn't like it," he said after a heavy sigh.

"It didn't look like she disliked your tongue in her mouth, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind connecting other body parts," he said with a small laugh.

She heard them moving in the room and quickly stepped back to the entrance. Seconds later Garrus came from his room, rubbing his eyes with one hand: "Why do I even bother talking to you?"

"Because no one else listens to you," Nihlus answered, following.

They both froze, noticing her presence in the room, pretending she just entered. Garrus' expression turned terrified: "Shepard, how long have you been here?"

"Just came in, why?" she lied, barely keeping herself from laughing. She could see a way to lift her mood. "Been talking about something I shouldn't hear?"

"No, just an old mission," he was an awful liar.

"Really? Tell me about it," Shepard said, sitting down on the stool. This was fun.

"It's nothing interesting," he stirred uncomfortably, "we blew up some merc base on Zada Ban."

"We've never had a mission there. I don't even know where Zada Ban is!" Nihlus protested mockingly.

"You just don't remember," Garrus said sharply.

"That reminds me of one time my team was sent to free some slaves from the batarians," she told. "Had to connect to their base's internal network to find the cells, then blew up the barracks on our way out. It was dirty, body parts flew all over the place. Kaidan walked out with a tongue stuck to his back all the way to the ship. Pretty gory, but the mission was successful. I didn't dislike it."

Both turians looked at her intently for some time. "Is something wrong?" she asked with innocent expression. She knew she had a perfect poker face.

"No, nothing," Garrus said a moment later. "How did it go with Liara?"

Shepard frowned: "Not very good. Said I won't be allowed to become a Spectre for some time, the committee, the Council – everyone will be against it, but it looks hopeful for you at least."

Garrus put hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry Shepard, we won't give up."

"I said it might be slow, but it's definitely not impossible," Nihlus said, sitting down next to her. "You should also wait for the Council's decision sometime next."

"Wait, you already put our names in?" she asked surprised.

"I knew you'd agree, why wait?" he answered. "Would have asked him years ago, but he was busy playing a war or something."

"Somebody has to do the hard work so you can have your fun," Garrus said, crossing arms on his chest.

"Don't overwork yourself in bars," Nihlus chuckled. "It's not like you get much action elsewhere."

"Have you gotten yourself kicked out of the Spectres finally? You seem to have awfully lot free time," he said. "About time the Council got some common sense."

"Nah, Tevos is crazy after me. She'll keep me around at least until she gets me," he answered, smirking. "And I'm actually here on work. Ran around the Citadel for the past few days getting you permission for a job."

"Am I invited to the party?" Shepard asked hopeful.

"Sorry, as much as I'd love to see the humanity's best in action, I've got two full turian teams and I need someone to lead one. You being there could get a bit uncomfortable," he answered.

"Teams? That's not your style," Garrus pointed out.

"This mission's a big one. Important. People I've managed to gather are pretty impressive, you'll see; if you decline, I'll just pick one of them as a leader," he answered.

Shepard caught Garrus looking at her and nodded. Inactivity must've been driving him crazy just like her and she would never ask him to stay behind. She could see how much he wanted to go.

"What's the mission and when do we leave?" he asked a moment later.

"You'll be briefed en route – can't risk an information leak. The ship's docking in a few hours. We'll leave tomorrow morning," Nihlus answered standing up.

"Tomorrow?" Shepard asked, surprised.

"That's just typical Nihlus. He likes doing and saying things in the last moment," Garrus explained, smirking. "Once I had a week's vacation and he stormed in my place on the first morning and dragged me out to shoot mercs. It lasted all week and I returned more tired than before."

"I remember that – the girl you slept with wasn't very happy about letting you go," he said, laughing and looking at Shepard. "Don't exhaust him too much tonight."

He left with that, leaving them both in an uncomfortable silence. Garrus stirred awkwardly. "I should probably go, get some things for the mission."

He went out of the apartment as well, and Shepard stayed, trying to wrap her head around everything that was said. Nihlus' hints aside, Garrus was leaving for an unknown length of time and they would be separated for the first time since getting married.

When he returned it was already night time, but Shepard was still up, waiting for him. She couldn't let him leave without saying something.

"Got what you needed?" she asked when he came into the room.

"Most of the things, got them delivered to the ship," Garrus answered, sitting down on couch next to her.

"I'm going to miss you," she said, leaning against his arm slightly.

"I'm going to miss you too," he answered. "But there is something I need to ask. About you and me. What does this all mean to you? One moment you respond to me like… like you want me too, but next pull away," he sounded confused.

"I just… I think I want you, but what if I suddenly change my mind when things start to happen?" Shepard said, letting out a deep sigh and brushing fingers over his gloved hand lightly. "Ever since the war started humans have been told that the turians are evil, disgusting aliens, but then I'm suddenly married to one. One moment we're friends and then suddenly I'm attracted to you. Everything has changed so much. But what we have here – it's already too good to fuck up with me suddenly becoming xenophobic."

"You should have said something sooner, would have saved me some awkward moments," he said after thinking for a moment. "I guess it's a good thing I'm leaving for a while – it will give you a chance to figure us out. And it's not like we have to rush anywhere."

They stayed like that for a while, silent until Garrus got up. "It's getting late, I need to finish packing and get some sleep. I'm leaving early."

"Wake me up before you go," she said. The room suddenly felt cold without him next to her. He nodded and disappeared into his room.

…

He came to her room the next morning as promised. He sat on the edge of the bed, brushing fingers over her cheek to wake her up. Shepard opened her eyes feeling his warm skin on hers.

"Came to say goodbye," he said quietly. She pushed herself up to sitting position, still sleepy.

"Write me some messages if you can," she said, rubbing her eyes.

Garrus nodded and they sat, looking at each other. She put her hand behind his head and pulled him closer for a kiss. It was slow and sweet, making her heart beat faster and head spin a little, just like two nights before.

"For good luck," she whispered, pulling away. He smiled and pressed his forehead to hers staying like that for a few minutes. Then he stood up, left, and Shepard went back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

When Shepard and Garrus first came to their new apartment it felt small compared to the house, like there could never be enough space for them and the things they owned. Now that she was alone it suddenly was too big and spacious. Garrus wasn't gone even half a day and she already had no idea what to do. Maybe it was because she never really had to be alone – growing up on ships, enlisting when she turned eighteen – she was always surrounded by others and moments of solitude were rare and precious. Maybe it was the fact that he wouldn't be back in the evening or the next day that bothered her the most.

It didn't help that she was on the Citadel. It was full of salarians, turians and asari, but she knew no one except for Liara. And the asari was probably too busy with work to entertain her. She spent the first part of the day trying to find something she could enjoy doing and ended up with a plan to visit one of the wards and watch Blasto later in a Citadel version of a movie theater.

During her short stay here she had only seen the Presidium and she expected the rest of Citadel to look the same, but was pleasantly surprised by how different it was. It was darker, simpler, but also livelier. The Presidium had that cold, distant atmosphere that said – here resides the wealthy, influential part of the society that Shepard didn't feel like belonging to at all. And apparently in the wards no one really cared about politics or anything outside their own business since there weren't any curious looks following her.

Shepard decided to bring Garrus here when he returned. She sighed at the thought – he was in her head almost constantly. She couldn't walk five minutes without checking her messages even though she knew very well that she'd hear the signal. It was like her brain had decided that Garrus took her hearing with him. There was chance he wouldn't be able to send her anything at all.

Blasto made a good distraction – she actually found it more amusing than she'd hoped. She also noticed that there was another human watching the film. He approached her when she was leaving.

"Hey, you must be new on the Citadel," the man said cheerfully.

"Is there a special newcomer mark on me?" she asked smiling. A friendly human – when did that became a rare thing?

"No, but I'm pretty sure I know most of the permanent residents – there aren't many of us so we tend to keep together," he answered and offered a hand. "Keeler."

"Shepard," she shook his hand.

"There's a bar where our group meets every evening after work. The owner's asari, usually no turians," he said, giving her the address. "You're welcome to join."

"Thanks," she answered, saving it on her omnitool, but then noticed that Garrus had sent her three messages while she was watching the film. "Maybe I'll come by, I need to go now," she said hastily, turning to leave and opening messages. She couldn't keep the grin from her face.

Vakarian: _Finally got a free moment to write you something, been busy planning the mission and getting to know the team. Feels so good to be back on a ship with other turians, there are even some old acquaintances of mine. How was your day?_

Vakarian: _Not that I don't like spending time with you, it's been great. _

Vakarian: _Please write something…_

She chuckled. His worry was funny, but it also made her feel warm inside.

Shepard:_ I was watching Blasto, didn't notice your messages. You could at least pretend it's not so great to be back in action. Someone is stuck on the Citadel, bored out of her mind._

His reply came seconds later.

Vakarian: _Spirits, for a while I thought I'd get locked out of the apartment or shot with your shotgun upon returning – I haven't forgotten you have a temper under that peaceful appearance._

Shepard:_ Liara would never allow it. We should come to the wards when you return, I like here._

Vakarian: _I've been gone for thirteen hours and you're already making a list of things we'll do when I get back?_

Shepard:_ I meant it when I said I'll miss you._

…

That evening they continued their written conversation until Garrus had to go to sleep – he was working now and needed to be at his best. She didn't even try to hide her envy or how much she missed her old life, even though the new one wasn't that bad. Except the part where she has to play a housewife, waiting for her husband to return from the work. That was terrible. She never expected things to end up this way. Before, everyone needed something from her. There was no end to the jobs she was requested for, but now she was left behind. The great Commander Shepard, N7 graduate; a few months and everyone had forgotten about her.

At least Garrus had Nihlus to come and save him from boredom and routine. And he was also the first to write her next day.

Kryik:_ To hell with tension and possible incidents I'm taking you with me next time._

Shepard: _What's wrong?_

Kryik: _Every female on the ship has made it her personal goal to get Garrus and remind him why turian women are superior to human – not that he knows the difference ;) I'm getting completely ignored!_

Somehow the fact that Garrus was now on a turian ship with crew that didn't consist of males only had slipped her mind.

Shepard:_ Trying to get me jealous? _

Kryik:_ Expressing my pain. It's a big blow to my pride. Maybe taking a chance to remind you that you're with the most loyal turian I know and to not do something stupid while he's gone._

Shepard: _Careful, Nihlus, I'll start to think you actually care. And don't worry, I'm pretty loyal person myself._

Kryik: _Good. Also – if you ever get tired of him, I'm next in line to marry you._

Shepard: _Sure, I definitely would like to marry you so you can get laid more with other women._

Kryik:_ I knew we'd make a great couple. _

So Nihlus was worried that she might find herself someone while Garrus was gone. She wanted to know if it was his own worry or Garrus had said something. It also made her consider whether to tell him about the bar she intended to visit this evening. Would he be jealous? She remembered Kaidan and Joker – Garrus hadn't said anything back then, but they weren't as close as now.

She didn't like the situation. Knowing he was on a ship with females willing to give him something she's been withholding did not make her feel more secure about their relationship. She regretted not going to his room the night before his leaving, even though she had thought about it. But it was no use to feel bad about wasted chances or getting jealous and possessive. They both needed to learn to trust each other. It was the hardest part as it showed in the attack on the house. It wasn't surprising that faith would need working on considering where they started. Trust wasn't something that always came in set with respect, friendship or… falling in love.

So when Garrus later wrote her asking about her plans for the evening, she told about meeting Citadel humans and did not mention her talk with Nihlus and never would unless he asked. He didn't say anything regarding the bar except not to get drunk and in trouble.

…

She found the place easily – it wasn't hard to find her way around the wards. The bar was small, but cozy, about an hour walk from the apartment, with an asari bartender and krogan bouncer. The larger tables were placed around the walls with smaller, round ones in the middle. The music was quieter, slower than the usual club hits. A group of humans was sitting in one corner; the man from yesterday – Keeler – was already coming to her.

"Glad you came," he said, smiling. "It's a bit early so there aren't many of us, but more should join soon."

At the table sat another man – Thomas and two sisters – Rita and Jenna. While she got acquainted with them, Keeler had gotten her a drink and sat down closer than she'd like.

"So where do you work?" he asked.

"With the Alliance," she answered, wondering if she still was considered to work there and trying to move bit further away.

"Is that why you're on the Citadel?" Rita asked.

"It's partly because of it," she said.

"Did you come alone?" it was Keeler again.

"No, with husband," that finally got him to back off. Jenna looked at her questioning: "Why don't you wear a ring?"

"Apparently that's not a tradition when marrying a turian," she shrugged. Shepard didn't intend to hide who she was or with who. One extranet search on her name could give them more information than she'd like.

They all looked up to her with surprise. "I knew I've heard your name before," said Thomas. "You're that commander they gave to the turians for peace."

"I was not given to anyone. I agreed to marry him to show that turian and humans can coexist," she explained. "So far it's going well."

"Still can't believe something like that happened," Keeler said. "We're not living in the middle ages."

Thomas actually supported the idea and both men started to discuss it. She had no interest in this conversation; she had heard all arguments on both sides already so she changed the subject with the sisters.

Later when the bar was almost full with humans and asari and Shepard was watching her own kind engaging in conversations and relaxing, she was approached by Jenna.

"Why don't you join others?" she asked.

"I'm just enjoying the change, haven't been around humans much for the last few months," she answered with a smile. That seemed to encourage the girl.

"What's it like, to live with a turian?" she asked.

"Not sure what to tell you. I haven't lived with just one human before so I can't compare," she answered thinking back. "I guess it's been easy."

"That wasn't the answer I expected," she admitted.

"Well, there are many differences, things I simply accepted as species peculiarities, but nothing that really bothered me," Shepard explained. That was the truth, it was the same as if her friend had a strange habits and she quickly learned not to care too much.

"Not even his look? I still jump every time one of them says something to me," Jenna said.

"He has his good points," she answered. "Garrus is tall and strong, I love his eye color, his plates have a bit of shine in light and his voice is really pleasant. He also has long fingers and his mandibles tickle when…" she noticed the look girl was giving her and realized she got carried away. "Yeah, good points."

"Sounds like you like him," Jenna chuckled.

"I think I'm falling for him," Shepard admitted.

Jenna looked at her like she was crazy and shook her head. Shepard had accepted her feelings– it wasn't something she could really control or change at will and she didn't want to. She wasn't sure when it had started, but she knew she wanted to move further, no more hesitating and excuses. He was right – they really needed to spend some time apart to see things clearer.

When she finally headed home, she couldn't keep herself from writing Garrus a message, even though he was probably sleeping and wouldn't read it until the morning.

Shepard:_ I really like your mandibles._

Surprisingly, his answer came a minute later.

Vakarian:_ I told you not to get drunk._

She hadn't drunk more than two light cocktails, but he probably wouldn't believe her anyway so she didn't waste time arguing.

Shepard: _I guess you'll have to punish me for insubordination._

Vakarian: _Added to the list. _

…

As days went by she missed him more and the fact that the free time he had for writing messages became less only made it worse. A week after leaving he wrote the last one, saying that the mission will start in two days and he'll call her when it would be over. Three days after their last conversation, things that were salvaged from the house arrived and it served as a good distraction. The basement was mostly intact so she had her guns back (technically she wasn't supposed to have them on the Citadel, but Liara apparently pulled some strings). Garrus room was the furthest from the explosion center, so he had one crate more that her.

She left most of her things unpacked. Her room didn't have a space specifically for weapons and she didn't want them scattered around. When she had sorted out her equipment, she focused on Garrus'. She hung his clothes in the closet, set datapads on the desk and sniper rifles against the wall in the same order he always did. She stopped at the one that shattered her shoulder – it still hurt sometimes. It was just as big and heavy as she remembered, but this time she paid more attention to the details. She found a little, white symbol on top of the barrel that seemed familiar. When Shepard realized what it was, she couldn't keep herself from laughing – it was the Nihlus face markings pattern. He had probably engraved it so Garrus would remember where it came from every time he'd used it. Somehow it went well with the image she had for the turian. Maybe the way he acted was for leaving an impression, a memory of meeting him.

She left Garrus' room just in time to hear a signal from the terminal, letting her now that a vid call was waiting for her. However, when she answered it wasn't Garrus as she expected, but Nihlus.

"Mission over?" she asked instead of greeting, smiling. His red armor was covered in all colors of blood, but mostly blue. He didn't return the smile, didn't make a joke or a witty remark. She had a very bad feeling.

"Yeah, it's over," he finally said, sounding like every word caused him physical discomfort. "Garrus, he…"

Shepard didn't say anything, didn't move or even blink, waiting for him to continue.

"It's bad. Really fucking bad," he finally got out.

"Will he make it?" she asked, clutching desk, knuckles turning white.

"I don't know," his answer was barely louder than a whisper.


	10. Chapter 10

Two days. Forty-eight hours since Nihlus' first call, most of them spent next to the terminal, waiting for him to let her know that Garrus was still alive. Apparently neither of them could sleep much nor do anything else. The turian had promised to tell her what had happened when they returned to the Citadel - the ship they were on didn't have the necessary equipment to help Garrus, and they could barely keep him breathing.

Waiting was a torture and it seemed Nihlus was taking it as hard as she did. For all she knew, he might have a ship full of dying teammates. Shepard wished she could say something to help him, but what would she say when she couldn't even convince herself that everything will be alright. One moment she was sad, the next anxious, then angry, and sometimes a combination of all three. Sometimes she wished she could call back her hatred for Garrus from years ago so it wouldn't matter if he lived or died.

Stupid turian came in her life, changed everything, made her care, then left her alone to become a Spectre, to die… She knew what it's like to lose a comrade, a friend, but if this was the feeling of losing a loved one, Shepard wished she had never learned.

Nihlus wrote her the address of the hospital after a long silence. It was the furthest place in the wards she had gone to and it definitely could be called a turian district, although she did see few other races there as well. Glares were sent her way with every step she took, but Shepard held her head up, challenging anyone to stand in her way.

The hospital wasn't much different from human and asari facilities – patient rooms, doctors walking by hastily, anxious visitors. The furniture and layout was a bit different, but the idea was the same. At first she was confused, not sure where to go or who to talk to. She wasn't even sure someone would tell her what she needed, so to stay on the safe side she wrote a message to Nihlus that she had arrived.

"Who let a filthy human in here?" high-pitched voice asked behind her. Shepard turned around and found a turian female, shorter and more delicate than a male turian. She had a sling on her right arm.

"I'm here to visit Garrus Vakarian," she said, ignoring the _filthy_. "I'm…"

"I know who you are, Shepard," she said, spitting her name like it was most disgusting thing she knew. "The Alliance whore they sold to stop us from destroying your useless species. Weaklings and cowards, that's all you are. Get lost before your dirt…"

The turian couldn't finish her sentence, because she was shoved in the wall. At a different time, Shepard would have ignored her insults, but sleepless nights and worry had drained her patience and control. It didn't matter that she was wounded and probably hurt by something emotionally. Shepard needed to lash out and the female turian made a perfect target.

"Wrong human to mess with."

She held the turian's fringe with her right hand, while the other pressed her small pistol under the turian's chin. Silence descended on the room. There was no shouting or panic that would have occurred in a human hospital. She could see security officers coming her way, but before they arrived a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Shepard," Nihlus said in calming, tired voice. She lowered her weapon, but released the turian's head after another shove in the wall. He gestured for her to follow; his presence was enough for security to return to its posts.

"You can't be serious," the female said behind them. He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. "That's enough," he reprimanded her. Spectres must have had a lot of authority here. No one else objected that he was taking an armed, short-tempered human further into the hospital.

"Sorry for Avita. She was on Garrus' team with us. We're all… not at our best," Nihlus explained. "And your team killed her father five years ago."

"Should I send her the list of human fathers turians killed during the war?" she asked angrily, "Me and Garrus gave up our lives, careers, so that she could live, and instead of thank you, "whore" is all I get."

She immediately regretted her outburst. Nihlus didn't deserve to listen to her frustration.

"Sorry, I'm just…" she started to say, but he interfered.

"I understand."

They sat down in the third floor waiting room at the furthest corner. She took a real look at him now. It was the first time she saw him without armor and in civilian clothes. He must have been injured on his right side - he groaned when shifted to get more comfortable in the chair.

"You're hurt?" she asked.

"Just a scratch compared to what most of the team suffered," he answered, then added after a brief silence: "They're trying to save him right now. Didn't give any promises."

"What happened?" Shepard couldn't keep herself from asking any longer.

"A trap," he answered and took a deep breath. "There was a small pirate group, at the edge of Citadel space. Three months ago they suddenly started to grow at an alarming speed, attacking asari, salarians, but mostly human ships. They stole everything they could, stripped ships for parts and sold any survivors to batarians. I kept an eye on them since I got the information about their expansion, gathering people, trying to locate their base. The plan was simple: Garrus and I lead each team from opposite ends of the station and take out every pirate we see, meet at the center and kill the leaders. On our way out, free the victims and salvage valuables."

He paused to gather thoughts and remember the events. "When we entered, it turned out they had been expecting us. All we could do was to try to get out alive. My team, or what was left of it, was the first to break through and we went to get the others. Somehow there were more pirates attacking them, even a fucking gunship, which blew a rocket in Garrus' face on our way out. The ship didn't have the necessary equipment to patch him up so we came to the Citadel as fast as we could."

"How did they know? Someone sold you out?" she asked, trying to wrap her head around his story.

"No, only me and Garrus could send out messages from the ship. No one from the crew could warn them," he said, confident. "Someone wanted me to go there, made sure I was the one to get the information and would be ready whenever I came." There was fire in his eyes as he spoke, and Shepard knew he wouldn't stop until he found the one responsible and made him pay.

"I guess being a Spectre doesn't help you get more friends," she concluded, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"The Spectre position is the only reason I have any friends," Nihlus said quietly, his anger subsiding. There probably weren't many occasions when he could show this more serious side of him. "Garrus, my mentor Saren… sure, there aren't many professions more likely to get you enemies, but without it I would have died alone long ago during the war as cannon fodder."

She wanted to ask more, to see what was really inside that annoying, light-minded turian, but a different one came to them and spoke to Nihlus, ignoring her presence.

"Vakarian will live and have full functionality. He has some cybernetics and scars, but that's not too high price to pay for staying alive," the doctor explained. "He's still unconscious, should wake up in hour. I'd like to keep him here for two days to make sure the implants work correctly."

They both sighed heavily, feeling like a ton of weight was taken from their shoulders. Nihlus started to look like the turian she knew, the usual shine returning to his eyes. Shepard felt the tension leaving her body and the two sleepless nights returning in a wave of fatigue.

"I knew he'd make it," he said.

"I'd be seriously offended if he died by the hand of someone that's not me," Shepard said, smiling.

"Go to him, he'll be glad to see your face when he wakes up," Nihlus said, pointing to the patient rooms.

"What about you?"

"I'll have plenty of time later," was his answer, leading her.

Shepard entered his room as quietly as she could. He was sleeping on his left side, but his right… she could feel her heart clench. There was a huge bandage over it, parts of face, that weren't covered were scarred. It must have been so close, probably a miracle that the rocket hadn't taken off his head. She sat down next to his bed looking at his every feature like she saw it for the first time.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there – it could have been minutes or hours, the last few days it felt like the time passed differently – until he finally opened his eyes. Slowly and unfocused at first, but then he noticed Shepard. She took his hand and spoke before he could ask anything.

"Easy, you're safe on the Citadel," she said, leaning closer. "Nihlus brought you here after you got injured. Doctors say you'll be alright."

"Is he wounded? What about the teams?" he asked drowsy, not fully awake yet.

"Nihlus is fine, I don't know about the others. I did bump into Avita though. She looked… lively," she answered, trying to keep her thoughts about their meeting away from her face.

"Hope you didn't shoot anything, she can exasperate easily," he said, making Shepard frown. He was starting to know her too well.

"I wouldn't start a fight in a hospital," she lied.

"Right," Garrus said sarcastically, then after a moment asked: "How bad is it?"

"Could be worse. Scars suit you," she answered, meaning it.

"Good," he sighed. "Wouldn't want my wife to not like me."

"You don't ever have to worry about that," she said with a warm smile. "Do you need anything? Water? Painkillers?"

"There is one thing," Garrus said after thinking a bit, "you could come here." He pointed with a finger at the bed, the free space next to him. She obeyed, lying down; space was small and their bodies had to be close together for her not to fall out.

She pressed her forehead against his good shoulder and put an arm around his chest. "Don't ever do that again."


	11. Chapter 11

Shepard and Garrus decided that she wouldn't come to visit for the rest of his stay. After her little clash with the turian female she was unwelcome in the hospital and since Nihlus wasn't staying there anymore, there wouldn't be anyone to keep her from trouble. Not that she couldn't take care for herself, but fights in the hospital would be bad publicity.

She already had gotten a few headlines when the media learned that Garrus was wounded and she was visiting him. Liara had been rather pleased. She also let them know that their house will be restored and they will have two residences that they would be allowed to travel between freely – the committee had cancelled their restrictions completely.

Nihlus brought him home on the third day after their return to the Citadel. Garrus' injuries were healing quickly and the cybernetics were integrating well. Otherwise he was fine and with some painkillers, he could return to his everyday life completely.

"I'm leaving the Citadel tomorrow," Nihlus said when they sat down for dinner that evening. "Try to refrain from eating rockets – I hear they can cause indigestion."

"What will you do?" Shepard asked.

"There's a bastard out there that owns me ten lives. I plan to collect," he answered.

"Need help? I have some personal business with him as well," she offered.

"Not right now. When scouts arrived they found the station abandoned. I'll have to start from a scratch," he said and tore a chunk of his meat fiercely, adding: "But I might hold you on that offer later if I need someone to take out a wounded turian."

"Never thought I'd have women fighting over me," Garrus smirked and rose up. "I'll be right back."

"Women that he hasn't even slept with," Nihlus said and shook his head when Garrus had disappeared in his room. "I'll have to take lessons from him."

"I'll never understand why he is telling you everything about us," Shepard rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't," he said. "I'm just good at reading people, especially those I know well. Ask the right question and he's an open book."

"Are you sure, you'll be fine?" she changed the subject. She hadn't even noticed when she had started to care about another turian - must be going crazy. "Someone went through a lot of trouble to kill you. He might try again and I'm not attending your funeral if you die because of your oversized ego."

"Careful, Shepard, I'll start to think you actually care," he cited her own words. "Besides, I can't die before squeezing out from Garrus if humans are any good – wouldn't want to miss a pleasant experience. Would you mind hurrying up?"

"Fuck you," she answered, throwing spoonful of mashed potatoes at him.

"Anytime," he retorted, dodging and grinning.

Garrus returned from his room with a box in his hands. He set it on the counter before Nihlus.

"Here's some mods I've been working on for the past months, they'll be more useful for you," he explained. His friend just nodded, accepting them.

Nihlus left late that night like always, slipping out the door before conversation had ended, and without saying goodbye. It was one of the things she had come to associate with him. They cleaned up, put away leftovers and retreated to their rooms like the last two weeks hadn't happened. Shepard washed, cleaned her teeth and changed into the tank top as usual, except sleep wasn't on her mind.

She went to Garrus' room and opened his door after knocking. The lights were out – he had already gone to bed.

"Garrus?" she asked quietly, hoping he wasn't asleep.

"Is something wrong?" he answered immediately.

"No, I was just wondering," she said, stepping in the room, "can I sleep here?"

The question had taken him by surprise – she could tell by the pause before his answer. "Of course."

Shepard walked over the room and lay down in his bed under the blanket. He was sleeping on his good side and she settled close to him just like in hospital. She noticed, running her hand over his side, that he wasn't wearing any clothes. She pressed her lips against his neck, giving him small kisses, stroking his waist and hip. His own hand came to her face, lifting her chin to press his mouth to her lips. Shepard opened them to let their tongues meet, lightly at first, then more passionately.

Garrus' other hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer as she put her leg on his. His plates were smooth and pleasant to touch, his skin hot under her fingers. He tasted sweet, fresh. Kissing him, the closeness of him, was enough for her to become aroused, but Shepard had no idea if she was doing anything right. Did he even feel her touch, and if so, did he like it? All she could do was hope that he'd tell her if she was making him uncomfortable.

"What should I do?" Garrus asked, breaking away.

"Wait for a bit," she answered, retreating to remove clothes. _Why did I even bother to wear anything? _she thought to herself.

When she had successfully stripped, Shepard lay down on her back taking his hand and moving it to her breast. With the other she found the spot under his fringe she remembered from their night in the bar. Garrus sighed content and let her lead his hand as she showed him how she liked to be caressed, their mouths meeting again. This time the kiss was shorter, their breathing speeding up from the mix of nervousness and growing arousal. He trailed his tongue down her jaw, neck, down to the other breast, licking nipple carefully, looking for a reaction –she responded arching against him and taking a deep breath.

He repeated the action more confidently now and she moved her hands to a more comfortable position - to stroke his arm and fringe. He seemed to like that as well as he went to lick her other breast, beginning below it, slowly circling to the nipple. Her grip on him tightened, hand caressed the top of his head harder and faster.

Garrus rose from her chest, sitting on his knees, trailing fingers from her cheek, down her neck, between her breasts and over her stomach with a light touch. He stopped at the lower abdomen, waiting for some sign from her that he was allowed to continue. She spread her thighs, cupping his unscarred cheek with one hand and again leading his other hand lower. His finger brushed against her folds, opening her lower lips and stroking between them.

"You're so wet," he said with a surprise.

"That means I really, really want you," she answered, smiling, though he couldn't see it in the dark.

Garrus chuckled. "We kind of have that in common," he said, leading her hand to his emerged member. Shepard felt warm, a little sticky liquid coating it. She stroked it lightly, not sure how sensitive it is, studying its different shape, length and width; she felt relief at the conclusion that it was similar enough to a human's. A moan escaped from Garrus as Shepard tightened her grip more, and his finger found her opening, slipping it inside her.

He explored it slowly and carefully, her hips pushing against his hand when he found the right spots. When he seemed satisfied with what he had learned, he added another finger matching the speed of her strokes. Shepard wanted to move on, but he was doing such a great job, she could only whisper encouragements. His member was becoming harder, his hips moved against her hand.

Garrus suddenly extracted his fingers, grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands above her head. He rested his forehead against hers, his breath faster than usual.

"Sorry, but if we kept going like that…" he whispered. Shepard understood, she was close to finishing herself and the stop made her yearn for more like never before.

"Just do it," she said, arching her back to press against him as much she could.

He released her hands, leaning on his forearm to support his weight, settling between her legs and taking his member in his other hand. He nuzzled her neck as he stroked her slit with it up and down and when he hit her bud, she moaned loudly, spreading her thighs further apart and raising her hips against him. He teased her, circling the spot, brushing it few times lightly. He was driving her crazy.

"Damn it, Garrus," Shepard breathed out, pushing her hips up again.

He finally moved to her opening, his own patience coming to an end, but entered her slowly. She hooked her legs around his waist as he filled her, the action eased by their mixing fluids. Garrus was still holding back, but she was having none of it – he had teased her enough. He felt good, comfortable despite the differences, and they found their rhythm easily; soon the room was filled with sounds of pleasure.

His free hand found its way back to her breast, cupping it, stroking nipple with thumb. He sped up, taking charge. Shepard could feel her orgasm getting closer and when she came, her inner muscles tightening, he followed shortly. He slowed his thrusts until he stopped completely.

They stayed like that for a while, catching their breaths, all thoughts swept from their minds. No more worries, no more fear. Garrus moved to lie on his side next to her like before, his hand staying on her waist. Neither of them said anything, slowly drifting to sleep.

…

Shepard woke up slowly next morning. The windows had already shifted coloring from black to translucent to let light from the Presidium in the room. She was lying close to Garrus, his eyes wide open, looking down at her naked body. Her head was resting on his arm and he was ran his fingers through her hair.

She smiled and pressed a light kiss on his mouth as a morning greeting. When he returned it, her hand came to his cheek and he withdrew with groan – Shepard had touched his injured side. She muttered "Sorry" while cursing in her thoughts – she had been so careful last night, so of course she had to screw up something in the morning.

"It's fine," he answered and grazed his tongue over her lips. "Up for some morning exercises?"

She pushed him back and rose up to straddle his hips, grinning: "Of course."

When they finally got out of the bed to shower and get some food it was past midday. Shepard bothered to only wear underwear and top, but Garrus didn't put on anything at all. She sat at the counter, watching him prepare food while enjoying leftovers from yesterday's dinner. The sight reminded her how it all had begun, their first day in the house. She smiled at the memory and how far they had come from that time and it hadn't even been a long time. Three months ago she didn't even believe that she could feel anything but hate for the turian.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. They didn't expect anyone. Everyone they knew on the Citadel would warn them before visiting (except for Nihlus). She rose up and headed for the door, but when she opened it, half hiding behind its frame, she found Captain David Anderson.

"Oh, shit," she muttered at the sight of him.

"Shepard," he greeted, either pretending or really not hearing her curse.

Habit and years spent with the Alliance made her step out of the cover and salute him before she could stop herself. "Sir."

He gave her a quick look and locked his eyes on her face. "I came to see how you were doing and discuss a few matters. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Of course," she answered, stepping back. Garrus was still in the kitchen, still naked and trying to catch a glimpse of whom she was talking to. Shepard was fully aware that this looked exactly how it was. She sighed heavily while leading him further in the apartment. She still remembered how Kaidan and Joker reacted when she just sat in Garrus' lap and they were close friends. She could only hope that Anderson wouldn't say anything in front of her husband, the situation was awkward enough.

"Sir, this is Garrus Vakarian," she introduced, trying to redeem the situation by being polite. "Garrus – captain Anderson."

Turian wiped his hands in a towel and extended one in greeting. "Nice to meet you, I've heard about you before," he sounded and looked as uncomfortable as she felt. Thankfully Anderson accepted the handshake: "Likewise."

"You probably want to talk alone," Garrus retreated to his room as quickly as he could once captain had released his hand.

Shepard offered him to sit and have a cup of coffee while she went to dress in something more appropriate. When she returned, her superior was standing next to the window, enjoying the view of the Presidium.

"It's good to see you, Sir," she spoke, standing next to him.

"I'm sorry I came without a warning – I had a bit of free time and decided to pay a visit," he explained. "You seem to be doing fine."

"I am," she answered honestly. "Is the ship and crew here as well? How long is your ship docked?"

"Just for today, I had some meetings to attend," Anderson explained. "Why don't we walk there, you could meet everyone."

Shepard knew that his offer wasn't for a friendly reunion. He didn't want a turian to overhear their conversation. Still, the offer was too good to pass and she quickly let Garrus know where she was going and left with the other soldier.

"I visited the asari that's taking care of you both," he said after leaving the apartment, "asked if we could get you back for a few missions since Vakarian was allowed. She said you can, if they end better than his."

Shepard grinned – that was great news. It was exactly what she needed – a chance to work and prove herself.

"I'm ready whenever you need me," she told him with enthusiasm.

"I'll let you know when the time comes," Anderson said, then added: "I also asked about the attack. Have you spoken to her?"

"Yes, Liara said everything is taken care of," she answered.

"I'm not supposed to say anything, but it's not," there was worry in his voice. "I just wanted to warn you – they haven't caught the organizers of it, only a few mercs from the group. Be careful."

"I will, thank you," she answered, glad that her weapons had survived the explosion. The danger didn't worry her too much, but if Garrus was attacked while she was gone – would he be able to take care of the situation alone? It made leaving for missions a much harder decision.

"What is it like – living on the Citadel?" he asked after they had walked quietly side by side while Shepard considered the information that was given to her.

"It's strange," she admitted. "Giant space station full of aliens, but I've met some humans, have a home and food – it could be worse."

"I heard you were considered for a Spectre position," he said.

"Yeah, didn't work out as planned, but Nihlus says it's still possible," Shepard explained. "He's Garrus' friend, a Spectre himself, the one who suggested it."

"You're becoming rather… friendly with the turians," he concluded.

"I'm just not holding a grudge over the past," she answered after thinking about it. "Garrus changed my opinion of them a lot."

"That's good, but don't forget– just because we're not shooting at each other, doesn't mean all problems are gone," Captain said, serious. "Humans are trying to find their place in the galaxy and turians are doing their best to hold us back. The fighting continues, only the battlefield has changed."

Shepard didn't answer. She was so busy with working out her and Garrus' relationship, worrying about the small matters and her own comfort she had forgotten that there was a world outside their home.

"I can understand keeping you both away from the politics," he said, noticing her frown, "you wouldn't be able to even get know each other if you had to argue over very action the other's race had taken, but if he's forced to choose between you and his people, he'll always pick them, just like you'd do if humanity's future was endangered."

Nihlus words came to her mind: _You're with the most loyal turian I know_. He never explained to what he was loyal – her, him, turians or his duty. She didn't want to think about him betraying her, choosing someone or something else over her, the possibility that all this time he was just acting like he cared for her as it was at the beginning. Or that she may have to stab him in the back someday and live with that decision for the rest of her life.

Her visit on the ship was short. Shepard only managed to have a small conversation with everyone she knew, but no matter how happy she was to see her friends, she couldn't stop thinking about Anderson's words. It didn't help that there was a new XO in her place, the realization that she was replaced stung a little even if it was logical and necessary.

Shepard watched the ship leave the docking bay with longing and nostalgia, then walked home slowly. She needed to decide how to proceed before seeing Garrus again. Something always happened when things finally seemed to go well. Or maybe she was just worrying too much. Problems between them always got solved easily, no fighting, shouting or consequences. If she just let it go, thought about it when and if such situation presented itself, would that really hurt anyone?

When she reached home, she found Garrus sitting on the couch, watching a vid.

"How did it go?" he asked, turning head to look at her.

"Good, Joker asked me to send his regards," she answered. It wasn't exactly truth, but she wouldn't repeat what he had said. Shepard went to sit down next to him, laying her head in his lap. His fingers played with her hair as they watched the film.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"It is now," she answered.


	12. Chapter 12

Two weeks later Shepard's day consisted mostly of two things – having sex and wandering around the Citadel. Needless to say, she was more than fine with that. They were reserved the first few times together, each still learning about the other, but then quickly grew more adventurous. If there was a piece of furniture in their apartment they hadn't yet used in some way during sex, she'd be truly surprised.

She stirred under Garrus' arm and head to look at the clock– he sometimes joked that she was so soft he didn't need a pillow anymore. Unfortunately she couldn't say the same about him. It was almost midday. Shepard had given up on trying to have some kind of a plan for the day and the committee was still deciding what to do with them while the house was restored.

"Garrus," she poked at his unarmored waist, "we'll be late for the lunch."

"I don't want to go," he muttered.

Shepard rolled her eyes. "We already talked about it."

There was a reason why neither of them was enthusiastic about it – they were meeting Garrus' father and sister. They had come to the Citadel for some business with C-sec and to visit him. At first Garrus refused to meet them – his sister was angry at him for not returning to Palaven after the war to help take care of their sick mother and his father rarely approved of any decision he made. It was a bit hard for Shepard to truly understand his situation – she had a good relationship with her parents and she was the only child in the family.

"Why don't we stay here for the rest of the day and I'll do whatever you want?" he offered while his hand travelled down her waist to stroke her thigh.

Shepard took his wrist before her mind started to think about all the things she could have him do, took his finger in her mouth, and sucked on it.

After releasing his finger, she said smiling slyly: "If we go, I'll do that thing with my mouth that you like so much when we get back. As many times as you can go."

He looked at her intently for a while, then gave up: "You're an evil woman."

She chuckled and got up to dress. She had moved most of her things to Garrus' room, the other bedroom unused since their first night together. It was a bit of a surprise how everything in there was already planned for two – the bed, the closet – like Liara had foreseen them getting to this point in their marriage.

They arrived at the restaurant just in time, his family already waiting for them. Garrus and his father were alike – the features, markings, height, except for eyes – they were dark blue, almost black unlike Garrus' pale blue. His sister though had different traits, she like all turian females was shorter and with smaller shoulders, but she had the same eye color as her brother.

Solana ran to Garrus as soon as she saw him, taking his jaw in her hand and inspecting the scars.

"Spirits, what did you do?" she asked taken aback by the amount of the damage.

"An incident with a rocket," he explained awkwardly.

"Let me guess – that Spectre got you involved in another one of his crazy ideas," his father was sitting with his arms crossed on his chest.

"Shepard – my father Caelius Vakarian, my sister Solana Vakarian," he introduced and they sat down.

"And it was a Council approved high importance mission."

"On paper – maybe. For him more like a stupid, irresponsible idea of fun. How many died in it?" he asked sharply.

Garrus didn't answer, the memory of it still hurt –he had served before with the few turians that were killed.

"I saw the reports, there were no mistakes made by either Nihlus or Garrus," Shepard interfered. "It was just a bad luck, a trap."

Caelius gave her a cold look, but dropped the subject. They ordered food and silence descended upon their table.

"What are your plans for the future?" his father finally asked in the middle of the meal.

Garrus shifted uneasily at the question: "We're both hoping to become Spectres."

"You've to be kidding me," he retorted. "It's not enough with your failed military career, now you're going to make a living by being a half criminal."

"Failed?" he asked in disbelief. "I'm the best soldier they have."

"Nothing shows your success as much as being stuck as a Commander because a human defeated you," Caelius pointed out.

"I don't need your approval for anything I do," Garrus leaned back in his seat and crossed arms on his chest, imitating his father's pose.

"Of course you don't. Imagine the horror if you actually became a decent person," his father answered sarcastically. "If you bothered to actually listen to something I say, maybe you wouldn't be in this parody of a marriage."

"Who says it's a parody?" he asked, pulling Shepard to him and kissing her the human way in front of his family and whole restaurant. She was sure she heard something hit the floor and break. When he released her, Caelius was looking at them lost for words, but Solana was hiding behind her palms.

"If you find me and my wife unacceptable, we can leave," hestated, looking extremely satisfied with himself. "Otherwise show some respect to the people who helped to stop a ten year long war."

"Of course you don't have to leave," Solana finally interfered. "I'm sure the four of us can have one lunch without it turning into a scandal. I really hoped you'd show some decency in a public place. Can we please talk about something pleasant?"

"Yes, please?" Shepard turned to Garrus and he nodded returning to his meal, his father giving into their pressure as well.

They spoke about Palaven, the weather there and Solana's job for the rest of the lunch, both men barely saying anything. Garrus had a childish, smug expression saying _I won_. Shepard had to roll her eyes at that – she wouldn't have tried to talk him into coming to this lunch if she'd known it would almost lead to a fight. She could imagine how fun a visit to his family on Palaven could turn out to be.

Caelius had some plans for the rest of the day, but Solana was free and asked them to entertain her after the meal. Garrus didn't seem too thrilled at the idea, but Shepard agreed before he could say anything – she wanted to learn more about them.

"Is there someplace you'd want to go?" Garrus asked when they left the restaurant.

"There is one thing I've wanted to do for some time," she answered after thinking a bit. "A spar. With Shepard."

Garrus laughed and said with a bit of pride in his voice: "You don't stand a chance, Sol."

"Not everyone is as easily defeated as you," she answered.

"You win only because you always distract me by making a face like I've hurt you," Garrus protested.

Solana ignored him and turned to Shepard: "What do you say?"

"Sure," she answered with grin. "We know a place." They had found a gym that rented rooms exactly for such purpose and they've been using one regularly.

"I need to ask you something, but answer the truth or nothing at all," she said after they had walked for a while silent. "Are you two really together or was it just an act for dad?"

"We are," Garrus admitted confidently. "I know it seems crazy, but this is how it turned out."

"I see," she said with blank face expression. "So, is Nihlus on the Citadel?"

"Don't even think about it!" Garrus answered warningly.

"Come on, I just want to have some fun," she said. "It's not like we haven't done it before."

That made him stop in his tracks and look at her in disbelief: "I'm not sure whether I should kill him or both of you. If father finds out, he'll just die on the spot."

"Unlike you, I have a brain to pretend I do as he says and keep my adventures secret," she explained, tugging him to move. "And when he disinherits you because you can't keep your mouth shut, don't come complaining to me."

"Nihlus left the Citadel two weeks ago," Shepard told her.

"Too bad, I'll have to find another Spectre," she winked to Garrus.

The gym was almost empty at this time of the day so they got a room easily. Shepard gave Solana a more studying look as they prepared. While shorter than males, she still was at least ten centimeters taller than Shepard. Her body was trained and strong – the turian was keeping herself in a good shape. This would be a good fight.

First few rounds she won easily – she could tell Solana wasn't used to fighting humans and underestimated her; Shepard on the other hand had made a career by killing turians. But it turned out she was a quick learner – _a family trait _Shepard thought to herself with a smile. The turian gave her quite a few bruises and won three times when she surprised her with speed or diverted her attention. Solana was definitely sly and would use any means necessary to get what she wanted.

When they both were too tired to move, she turned to her brother who was standing aside, watching them: "Can you get us some water? Not the one from the vending machine, but a proper shop one."

"It tastes the same everywhere," he pointed out, glaring at her.

"I want to speak with Shepard alone, idiot, get the hint," she retorted. Garrus left visibly sulky, muttering something. Shepard was lying on the mat, while Solana sat down next to her. "I hope this day hasn't spoiled the image of the Vakarian family completely."

"Well, I don't see you as the typical happy family exactly," she admitted.

"Mom says there are too many strong personalities in the family, no one wants to adjust," Solana explained. "But it's really not as bad as it looks. Dad really cares about both of us, he just shows it in a wrong way. He pushed Garrus to join C-sec because he wanted to keep him safe. I had to leave the military right after my service ended. But then the war started and Garrus refused to go home… do you know what it's like to have a family member in a war while you sit at home, hoping that the next call won't be about his death? When you're on a mission you don't think about those that worry at home, just the goal, I've been through that myself. That's why Garrus doesn't understand dad, but he's too busy worrying to see my brother's talent."

Shepard listened carefully, thinking about her own parents – they were safe for most of the war, their positions in the Alliance high enough to keep them from the front line. But they went through the same thing as Garrus' parents and she never even said as much as thank you or sorry. She'd call them as soon as she got home.

"That is also the true reason why dad's against him becoming a Spectre – they don't usually live to an old age," Solana continued. "And Garrus – although he visits home rarely, he actually cares a lot. He calls me often just to ask how everyone's doing and remember that money you each got for this marriage?"

Shepard nodded – it was a big sum, hers still was mostly untouched, since all their necessities were taken care of.

"Our mother is sick, a rare illness. We're not poor, but salarian treatment costs a fortune. Garrus sent almost all of that money to me and now she's on their homeworld getting treated," she explained.

Shepard smiled: "Thanks for telling me all this."

"Well, Garrus said that you two are serious and I knew he wouldn't tell you anything himself," she rose up to stretch.

"You don't mind that I'm a human?" she wanted to be sure.

"Not much. If he just fell for an enemy soldier, a human at that, I'd question the state of his mind, but you found each other forced to be together, trying to help both sides. Your marriage has a good purpose and you seem to get along great, there's nothing to complain about. Well, except for not having children. Anyway, it's his life and he wouldn't listen to me even if I didn't like it," she answered, giving her a hand to help to stand up. "Welcome to the family."


	13. Chapter 13

Three months later.

Shepard was sitting in a car, shifting uneasily.She was heading home after two weeks on active duty with the Alliance. The old house had been rebuilt and they had moved back in the month prior to her assignment. It was different, of course, but the place still held a special meaning to them and no fancy apartment on the Citadel could change that. It was harder to travel though; they needed to drive twenty minutes just to get to the closest shop, but it was their refuge from the rest of the galaxy.

They had started to appear in various events together, giving speeches and interviews, though they always found a way to confuse their listeners just for fun and got more than a few reprimands for that. It only added to their fame in the Citadel – they couldn't walk for five minutes even in the wards without someone shouting encouragements or glaring at them – it usually depended on the district. So having a house in a rather desolated place was a blessing.

The only downside was how few people they could meet. Nihlus hadn't visited or written since leaving the Citadel and she knew it worried Garrus, although he was hiding it well. Her friends hadn't come yet to see the rebuilt house either, but she had just spent a good amount of time with them so it wasn't much of a disappointment. Even Liara had disappeared – they knew she lived on the same colony since the wedding, but they last saw her just after moving in.

But right now she wasn't worried what everyone else was doing. Her thoughts were with Garrus. She had spent the long way home messaging him, planning what they'll do when she arrives, each trying to surpass the other with ideas that overwhelmed her mind with fantasies. Shepard already had paid the driver to go a speed twice what was permitted, but it was still taking too long.

When she finally got there and stepped in the house no one was waiting for her. She had expected Garrus to meet her at the front door. Shepard grinned - maybe he was in the kitchen, looking for the chocolate sauce. Suddenly two strong, familiar arms wrapped around her from behind and started to unbutton her jacket, pressing their bodies close together.

"Welcome home," he whispered and pressed his mouth to her neck.

It still amazed her how right it felt to be with him even after all these months. She had come to love everything about his body, even the things that she disliked or found strange before – his sharp teeth sent pleasant shivers over her skin when he gently nipped her, never breaking her skin or hurting her. His fringe was one of his weak spots, and stroked in the right way, could make him gasp. His hard, natural armor made an excellent support and a place to hold on. It was unbelievable that they could have sex with each other at all, not to mention how good it turned out to be. Sometimes she wondered if it was because of their differences – there was no pride or illusions, they both were eager to learn and express their feelings for each other in any way they could.

They were interrupted by a doorbell.

"Ignore," Shepard ordered, hoping their visitor would think no one was home. Garrus showed his agreement by removing her shirt.

The door was unlocked from the other side and an angry Liara marched in, stopping in her tracks when she noticed them.

"Oh, my," she said. All three of them stayed frozen for some time.

"Get out!" Shepard hissed, giving her a murderous glare.

Liara turned around, saying: "I'm so sorry, but your house is about to get attacked again."

"No offense, but I hate you so fucking much right now," she said, getting dressed.

"Please hurry up, we need to leave before they get here," the asari sounded desperate.

"Let's stay and take care of them," Garrus suggested.

"Have you forgotten how it ended the last time?" she asked. "I'm not rebuilding you another house."

They dressed quickly and while Garrus loaded armor and weapons in the back of the car, Shepard and Liara packed some food. Everything happened in such a rush they didn't speak a word to each other. When they finally sat down in the car, Liara driving, Shepard had a few question to ask.

"Where are we going?"

"A secret landing zone, I have a small ship waiting there," she answered, starting the car.

"How long till we get there?" she asked, settling closer to Garrus.

"Twenty five to thirty minutes," Liara said.

That made Shepard smile. "That will be enough," she muttered. "Does this car have that fancy, opaque glass, separating back and front seats?"

"Yes, it does. Why…" she didn't finish her question as Shepard interfered: "You should raise it up."

She did it when realized what they were planning, her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of purple.

...

When the car stopped and they stepped out, it wasn't just her cheeks that were purple now – Liara's blush had spread all over her face and neck. Shepard was fastening her belt and Garrus fixed clasps on his shirt, neither looking bothered by having sex almost in front of another person.

"I can't believe you actually did that," Liara said, avoiding looking at them.

"Shouldn't have interrupted our reunion," Shepard shrugged.

"I just saved your lives," she reminded.

"Blame turians – before marrying Garrus, I wouldn't have dared to act like this," she answered, winking at him.

The ship was small – a cockpit, mess and two cabins. They quickly moved their things from the car while Liara disappeared inside. When she started the ship, Garrus and Shepard came to stand behind her.

"So you're not just an archeologist and marriage consultant, but also a pilot?" Garrus asked, suspicious.

"Hundred years is a long time, I know many things. But the ship will mostly be navigated by a VI, I just need to set a few things," she explained.

"Where's the next stop?" Shepard joined the conversation.

"There's an informant I need to meet about this group, the investigation team didn't make any progress," she answered. "Then the Citadel – you'll be the safest there."

"So you didn't catch the organizers from before after all," Shepard concluded.

"You've spoken to Anderson, I see."

"Wait, it's the same group? And you knew they were still out there?" Garrus interfered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just… didn't want to think about Anderson or our conversation," she admitted.

"Why? Are you hiding anything else?" for the first time since they lived together, he seemed actually angry at her.

"I don't have to retell you my every conversation," she retorted.

"If it concerns us or our safety, then yes, you do," he replied.

"What I discussed with him is none of your business," Shepard spitefully refused to reveal anything.

"Fine, if that's how you want it," he turned around and left, disappearing into one of the cabins and locking it.

"Asshole," she muttered. "Way to overreact."

"Why didn't you just say it was some secret Alliance information?" Liara asked.

"Because it's not," she answered quietly. She wouldn't lie to him, not directly, but she wouldn't push her insecurities and doubts on him again. She had promised herself not to even think about it.

"I think that he's just afraid to lose you, that the Alliance might come one day and take you away," she told her just as quietly.

Shepard didn't answer, it didn't matter. If she didn't give in, he'd probably just forgive and forget, but sharing the details of the conversation would most likely lead to doubt and suspicion between them for the rest of their time together. She'd been holding on to every minute spent with him, every memory, because one day it might get taken away.

...

Their first stop was a small colony on a planet in the closest cluster. The journey wasn't long – three hours - and their argument wasn't resolved. Garrus didn't leave the cabin and Shepard didn't try to talk to him. She was sure that he wasn't at peace with the situation as much as she, but neither was ready to give in. So instead Shepard sat with Liara in silence when she wasn't venting her frustration.

The meeting was arranged at the colony's only bar. It was a salarian world and they had to travel from the docking bay by foot, but it wasn't far. They walked down the street with Liara between them, getting curious looks with every step – a human, asari and turian together must've been the weirdest company to visit their home.

Shepard's resolve not to give up was starting to break. She was never good at staying angry at those close to her for long and she really did feel guilty for not just talking it out, telling him about her doubts and trying to find a way out together. While she was thinking they arrived at the bar – probably the most shabby establishment in the whole colony. Liara stepped in first, Garrus following, but when Shepard was about to walk in the door closed right before her, she barely stopped before running into it head first. She opened it forcefully and found Garrus standing before her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Sorry, forgot you were coming too," he feigning innocence. "It must feel terrible to be left out."

All thoughts of apology flew from her mind. She wouldn't sit back and let him mock her.

"At least I got in," she retorted, shoving him aside. Liara had already taken a seat opposite a drell, apparently her contact. She was typing on her omnitool, transferring credits to his account as they sat down next to her.

"What have you learned?" she asked when the transaction was finished.

"The ones you're looking for belong to a turian organization, mostly criminal activities," the drell answered.

"We already knew that much," Shepard interfered.

"Some of us know more than the others," Garrus added, glaring at her.

"Thank you, Shepard, Garrus," Liara said, before Shepard could answer, her patience draining. "What else can you tell us?"

"They're not just after those two, but humans in general, seems like the one in charge is someone with a lot of grudge and credits," he answered. "I can also give you the location of their main base," he tapped on his omnitool and it was sent to Liara.

"That's more than I hoped for," she admitted with a smile. "Is there anything else?"

"Not for the sum you paid me," he answered, standing up and leaving.

"Great, now we can go to the Citadel and I'll get someone to look into this information," Liara looked at her companions who were looking at each other in a silent agreement.

"We're not coming to the Citadel," Shepard finally said.

"We're done running around, having someone else take care of our problems," Garrus added. "It's time we show them who they're dealing with."

"Are you crazy? We barely know anything about them, you can't just rush there blindly, especially alone!" the asari couldn't believe the absurdness of what she was hearing.

"We are thankful for all you've done, but you won't stop us," she said. "Either take us there or we'll find a way ourselves."

Liara shook her head: "This is just stupid. I should lock you up, forbid you from leaving the Citadel ever again."

"How long do you think you can keep us imprisoned?" she objected. "They proved they're serious, they will find a way to get to us no matter where you hide us. Let's take care of them while the problem hasn't escalated."

"You know how slow it will go if you ask for help officially," he added, "they may change the location a dozen times while your committee discusses the issue and you'll have to start investigating from a scratch."

Shepard could see Liara was giving up, unable to resist the pressure of their combined persuasion. She was slightly surprised at how similar she and Garrus thought, how easily they could work together towards a common goal even in the middle of an argument. They would make a great team on the battlefield, the idea of them going to the base seemed less and less crazy.

"Fine, if you want to get killed, go ahead, but officially you abducted me and my ship," she said a bit angrily and left them.

"That wasn't so hard," Shepard grinned, getting up to follow. "I guess we radiate some credibility."

"Not you. For someone who once accused me of not trusting you, you're not showing a much better example," he retorted.

Shepard stopped on her way out, took his face in her hands to make him look her in the eyes.

"Garrus, I love and trust you," that wasn't a confession, just a fact she had no problems admitting, "and I'll tell you what we spoke of if a situation where it is relevant comes, but there won't be anything gained of this conversation now. Just let it go, this one time, please."

He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Fine, you're just lucky that I can't stay angry at you for long."

She smiled and released him: "I know."


	14. Chapter 14

"Oh shit," Shepard muttered looking at the scan in her omnitool.

Liara had taken them to the planet where the base was located and landed her ship two kilometers away and behind a huge rock formation. The desert stretched out to the horizon, numerous cliffs and razor sharp rocks jutting up from a bed of dark, red sand. The heat was barely tolerable. When they walked down to the the base's coordinates, they found nothing, but an empty field. They were about to agree that Liara had been cheated, but Shepard took a quick scan of the vastness before them and found that underneath their feet lay a huge underground base.

"Well, I guess our previous plan won't work anymore," Garrus pointed out, looking over her shoulder.

Liara snorted: "Since when is going in and shooting everything that moves considered a plan?"

"You apparently have never worked with a Spectre," he chuckled.

"And I hope I never will," she answered. "Can we go now? There's nothing you can do if the base is this size."

"Not true," Shepard said looking for an entrance, "We can go in and find as much information as possible – who's the leader, how big is their group, maybe even some evidence and plans. That might speed up getting reinforcements."

"I won't talk you out of this no matter what, will I?" she sighed heavily.

"Sorry, but we've decided," she confirmed.

The ground beneath their feet began to vibrate suddenly. At the far end of the field, patches of desert disappeared before their eyes, leaving a gaping hole. Even from where they stood they could see the metallic sheen glinting off the walls of an underground passage. The group had just managed to hide as the cargo bay doors opened fully and four small ships flew out. As soon as the craft cleared, the doors rumbled to a close once again.

"I think we found our way in," Garrus said, straightening.

"Go back to ship and wait for our signal – we'll probably need to leave in a hurry," Shepard turned to Liara.

"Just come back alive," she said, leaving.

The two of them started climbing the rocks on the right side of the field – they'd make good cover if more ships flew out and they'd be safe from any traps hidden in the sand. The progress was slow – the heat and armor made moving a torture. There were no paths and they had to climb over every obstacle. Shepard was soaking in sweat after the first few minutes. Garrus was leading them and she could hear his breathing grow faster – it was hard for him as well.

Looking at his back, she couldn't stop herself from thinking that she had been unfair to him. What Anderson had said all those months ago – about them having to pick sides if the situation arises – it was probably something Garrus had thought about himself. He was attentive to details concerning everything, their relationship included. Both of them had doubts and they had avoided talking about them, but the argument earlier had finally proved her that silencing them would not make them disappear.

"Garrus, I know this isn't the best time for this talk," Shepard spoke, quickening her pace to be closer to him, "but have you thought about the possibility that a new war might arise between our people?"

"I have," was his answer.

She waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she spoke again: "Would you take the turian's side?"

"I can't betray my own people, but I wouldn't return to military," he answered without looking at her, probably afraid of her reaction to his words.

"I wouldn't ask you to," she said. It was the same for her – she couldn't support turians while they killed humans even if her race were at fault. But going back to the front lines, wondering if the enemy she just shot was someone Garrus knew, if she caused him pain – it would never be an option for her. "We could just run away and hide on some uninhabited island, eat what we'd find and never meet anyone again

He stretched out his hand to help her to climb a particularly steep rock. "One of us would starve."

"Oh yeah, the downside of being with a turian," she landed in his chest.

Garrus held one arm around her waist and wiped the sweat off her forehead with his fingers. "It won't happen, we'll make sure of that," he assured her.

She let his confidence overwhelm her for a moment, believing that they could actually have an effect on such outcomes, but when he let her go and continued forward, she carried on the conversation.

"What if there was some kind of big political plan that would hurt humanity, but be advantageous for turians and they asked you to side with them?" she asked.

"Can you answer that kind of question?" he asked in return. "If we really couldn't come to an agreement, would you risk our relationship for the sake of making billions of human lives better?

I don't think I could choose you if I was put there. I don't know what that means for us."

"That our lives will be filled with problems and compromises until one takes a stand the other won't forgive," she answered gloomily.

"If it changes anything, I believe it's worth the trouble while it lasts," Garrus said, looking back at her.

"It is," Shepard agreed with pat on his shoulder and a small smile. "And there may not even come a day when we have to choose. This is what I didn't want to speak about."

He nodded, assenting. She wasn't sure if the conversation gave her more peace, but at least she wouldn't feel guilty for not speaking about it. While deep down in her heart in some selfish corner she wished he had said that he'd be ready to sacrifice the whole galaxy for her. She'd never ask from him something she wouldn't be ready to give herself. Even if it wouldn't end in happily ever after, she was thankful to destiny or whatever force ruling the universe that it had brought them together.

It took them a lot more time than they had planned to reach the other end of the field and the approximate location of the tunnel's entrance. The hardest part was still ahead of them and she already felt like calling Liara and leaving, but she wouldn't retreat after all that climbing.

"Glued the sand to keep it from pouring in the base," Garrus said kicking it with a boot. It was like a stone – hard and solid.

Shepard in the meantime scanned their surroundings again. "Found the maintenance entrance," she announced, opening the hatch. They had to climb to the bottom of the tunnel that angled down in the underground. There was a track on the floor planned for walking, but there was no cover from ships that might leave or arrive – they would get fried if one flew overhead. They could only hope that luck would be on their side. The air within was cool – that was a good start.

"How do you want to proceed when inside?" Garrus asked.

"As quietly as possible. We don't know what they have hidden in here, let's just find something like a control room, get as much information as we can and leave," she answered.

"Sounds good," he agreed.

There was no telling how long the tunnel was – they couldn't see the end of it – or know what would await them there. Someone might just turn up right where they were walking, so they kept their weapons ready. Shepard silently hoped that most of their number would have left the base in those ships and they wouldn't have to fight through hundreds of turians at some point.

She stopped at a door in the wall. The passage seemed endless and although the walk inside felt like a rest after what they had moved through before, they needed to find their objective as soon as possible. Garrus apparently thought the same as he overrode the lock and opened the door, ready to shoot anyone inside. But luckily the room was empty. There wasn't even any equipment, just two doors on opposite walls.

"We should split up," Shepard suggested.

"I won't say I like it, but it's probably the best option" Garrus agreed. "Contact me if there's something important, otherwise keep silent."

She nodded, refraining from reminding him she knew what to do, but this wasn't the time to be petty. She took the door on her right, finding an empty, long corridor. There was her first problem – she had at least dozen possibilities where to go next, but she didn't want to check every room she came across. She'd run into more than few enemies like that and leaving a trail of bodies definitely wouldn't help with staying quick, silent and unnoticed, so she walked down to the last door.

There were stairs going both up and down, and she moved deeper in the base by going down - it was more likely, that they'd keep the important things further from surface. The last floor was storage. From what she could see in the light of her omnitool, it was filled with mechs. Shepard shuddered – there were so many, it was like someone was preparing for a war. She left the room and went back up; she didn't want to get too close in case they had some kind of motion sensor.

Shepard stopped on the next floor. Another corridor behind the door and one turian stood with his back turned to her. He was looking in a room where two others were talking, but she could barely hear their conversation.

"… so funny, don't you? When the boss decides to finally get rid of you, we'll see who laughs as I cut you limb by limb slowly and painfully. I've heard that loosing mandibles hurts like hell, I might try that on you," the speaker said slowly and wishfully, as if he could imagine the scene in front of his eyes.

"I actually know a guy who got his torn off, said he didn't even notice until looked in the mirror, though it could be just him. I've always wondered if he's able to feel pain at all," came an amused answer, clearly not bothered by the threat. What really surprised her was that she knew the speaker – the voice belonged to Nihlus, there was no doubt.

"Why don't we try that right now? I'm sure if you lost one, no one would care much."

Shepard carefully down the corridor and shot the turian guarding the door in the back of his head, then moved quickly inside the room. She found Nihlus holding the other person on the floor with his knees, strangling him with the long chain connecting his handcuffs. There were holes in the wall where it was previously affixed. When his victim stopped moving, he rose up.

"Shepard, thanks for helping out. Been waiting to do this for so long," he said instead of greeting. He was naked – a smart choice by his captors– he probably had a dozen items hidden in his armor for a situation like this. He also had a few fresh scars, but he looked otherwise unharmed. "Mind freeing me from these?" he lifted the chain in front of her. There was another set of cuffs around his ankles and neck, all chains pulled from their sockets in the wall.

"I think I like you chained, makes you look more humble," she answered, aiming her gun as close to his wrist as she dared.

"Never thought you were into those games," he chuckled.

When that was done, she pointed to the body: "He looks about the same size as you."

"He smells," Nihlus retorted. "And so do you, by the way."

"It's fucking hot outside, humans sweat. And the other one has blood and brain on the armor so either choose one or go naked. I'll contact Garrus," she said. Her husband answered right away.

"You'll never guess who I just found imprisoned in one of the rooms. Nihlus. Saved him like a damsel in distress," she told him.

"What's he doing here? And what's a damsel?" he asked.

"An idiot chained to a wall," she explained smirking. "Let's leave the long stories for our reunion. We will move further together," she said, ending the connection – the less they communicated, the less likely it was that they would get caught.

"I think this counts as a reunion, so you can tell me now how did you get here and find me," Nihlus asked while dressing.

"Liara came to our house – it's been rebuilt by the way, come visit sometime – right before another attack and wanted to take us back to the Citadel. Before that we met someone who gave us the location of this base and we changed the plan. Now we're scouting it for any information we can find. Running into you was just luck," she explained watching him. "What about you?"

"Most of the time I was gone I was tracking the pirate group from the previous mission and about a month ago my investigation led me here. I decided to take a look at what they've got and come back later prepared, maybe nuke it from the orbit, but got caught. I'm not sure why they kept me alive," he checked the guns the dead turian had, while she pulled the other one in the room. "I did find out that those pirates work directly under the one who tried to kill you. Maybe the trap was for Garrus, not me."

"How could they know you'd ask him? You came to him at the last moment," Shepard pointed out while he led her out of his cell.

"Maybe I'm getting old and predictable," there was an unusual note to his voice. Shepard couldn't decide if it was disappointment or something else.

"Where are we going?" she asked - they were back at the staircase, going up.

"I know where to find what you're looking for," Nihlus answered with a smirk.


	15. Chapter 15

"What did you mean when you said you know where it is?" Shepard asked as they went up the stairs at a quick pace.

"Prior to locking me up they took me to their boss. I know where the main room is and a few ways to get there – I explored the base for quite some time before I got caught," Nihlus answered. "If you need information that's the place where to look for it."

Shepard frowned. "So we're just going to march in and ask nicely? Or will it be conveniently left empty and unguarded?"

"No, we'll clear the way by shooting anything that stands in our path," he explained. "Really, Shepard? Do I need to explain you the basics? You're supposed to be a professional."

She grabbed his arm to stop him: "Scouting, Nihlus, s-c-o-u-t-i-n-g. No bodies, no noise, no attention and we get out alive."

"Oh, so that's what you tried to accomplish when you shot the guard," he said in mock realization.

"Next time, I swear, I'm letting you get your mandibles torn off," she said rolling her eyes. "This base is too big and with too many people for us to get to it alive. We'll find a different place to get our information, a terminal or something."

"I already tried," Nihlus said freeing himself from her grip. "There's nothing."

"I'll find something, but we're not turning this into a suicide mission, besides we need Garrus with us," she didn't give in.

After everything Shepard had heard about Nihlus she had some idea about how reckless he could be, but this was just crazy. All they knew was the size of the base, that there are hundreds of mechs on the first floor, which might get sent after them as well, and that the big pirate group he and Garrus tried to eliminate could be hiding here now. There was no guarantee that the ships they saw earlier leaving weren't empty. She was about to point out those problems to Nihlus, when their little disagreement was interrupted by door opening on their right, the confused turian stopping few steps above them.

"Why is there a human here?" he asked suspiciously to Nihlus.

"A prisoner," the fact that he hadn't shot the turian showed that Nihlus was at least considering doing things her way.

"Since when do we take prisoners to the main base?" he asked, looking closely at her face.

"This is Shepard, the team captured her and brought her here for the boss," Nihlus explained. Thankfully he lied much better than Garrus.

"They were ordered to kill her," he said, turning his gaze to him.

"Plans changed."

"Who gave that order?"

Nihlus sighed deeply. "If you had any brain, you'd have left and asked all those questions to someone in charge, not a suspicious turian you're seeing for the first time in your life walking around with a human. Then they would send a few of your comrades to find and detain or kill us. But unfortunately you're stupid and annoying, so I don't even feel bad about killing you," he said, pointed his gun and shot the turian right in the eye.

"Couldn't you just shoot him without the lecture?" she asked when the body hit the floor. Apparently not leaving piles of dead men was not an option when working with Nihlus after all.

"I was locked up in that room for a month. I have so much to say I don't think I'll live long enough to get it all out," he explained.

"Great, now you're the number one person on the list of people I want to spend undetermined amount of time with," Shepard sighed heavily. "Let's find Garrus, so I don't have to suffer alone, then move carefully towards the main room – if it's not too dangerous, we can try to get in there," she offered. "But first take the body to the bottom floor – you killed him, you clean up."

As he took care of the body, she contacted Garrus and told him to return to where they separated – Nihlus would then take them to the central part of the base. There was no point in staying apart if they knew where to find their objective. She left out her worries that Nihlus didn't seem to agree to just explore the base and not kill everyone in sight. While she understood his anger – the turians in here were responsible for the deaths of his teammates, failed mission, keeping him hostage for a month and trying to kill his friend repeatedly – she was ready to put a bullet in his head herself, but that was not the smart move. They needed information about the plans, size of the organization, if there is anyone to continue the current leader's work if he fails…The scale of this pointed to something bigger than just taking out her and Garrus.

Nihlus returned with extra weapons from the dead turian after taking more time than necessary, probably just to annoy her. They got to the floor they needed quickly, but this time the corridor wasn't empty. There were six turians next to it, headed to the tunnel for some maintenance, given the welding equipment they carried. They also were in armor and carried guns. If this group stepped in when Garrus was waiting for her and Nihlus, he wouldn't stand a chance. There was nothing to use as a cover.

There was also a problem with her and Nihlus not being quick enough and one of the turians warning the rest of the base about their presence. They'd have enough time contact someone while the two of them tried to kill everyone, but Nihlus already had found a solution. He pointed at the side of the turian in front of the group as they looked at them from the half opened door. He had an oxygen cylinder with him for welding and so did the turian standing next to him. Shepard and Nihlus pointed their guns and shot.

The explosions were a lot smaller than she expected – the cylinders weren't full apparently, but it was enough. They quickly took care of those who were unconscious. Garrus carefully peeked in the corridor, his gun drawn and came in when saw Shepard. He shook his head at the bodies and blood splattered on walls.

"If someone comes in here, there will be no question about being under attack," he said. "Would a bit of subtlety really hurt?"

"We just took out six armed men with only two shots, you should be impressed," Nihlus pointed out.

"Spirits, you look awful, how long have you been here?" he asked inspecting his friend closely. " And you stink."

"A month. Surprisingly, they don't provide healthy food for prisoners," he answered. "And for the smell you can thank Shepard."

"We should move on in case someone heard the explosion," she interrupted. It wasn't very likely though – the base was well insulated and the lack of turians marching around pointed to this not being an important part of it, but there was no need to risk it.

Nihlus led them through the maze of corridors, doors and rooms, stopping whenever a group of turians where in their way, waiting for them to leave or finding a way around. He told Garrus and Shepard about his time here in more detail. His cell had changed a few times and he'd been taken to the main room more than once for questioning – they were worried that more would find this location and the scars she saw when she found him was from that. But the interrogator wasn't the leader himself –Nihlus had seen him only when he got caught.

"Did you know him?" Garrus asked, walking next to him, his attention focused ahead of them.

"No, saw him for the first time. Unfriendly guy, didn't laugh at any of my jokes, though it might be because they all were about him," he answered. "He only said it was a shame I didn't take you with me this time, would have saved him a lot of trouble."

"Looks like he really wants to restart the war – getting his own pirate group to attack human ships, gathering mechs, trying to kill us," Shepard said. "I thought the turians were as interested in ending it as humans."

"We were," Garrus affirmed. "Sure, not everyone liked the way it was done, but most agreed that continuing was futile. Asari and salarians thought so as well. Even this marriage – it was a most unusual request in a peace treaty, but the committee probably saw it as a way to speed up humanity's integration. That's why I agreed – I wanted to stop this slaughter as soon as possible and following their lead seemed the best way."

"It was the same for me – the Alliance needed the war to end and if there was anyone who'd know how to do it the best, it would be the races that were a part of the galactic community for thousand years."

"You both are such idealistic fools," Nihlus said with sigh. "If you don't want to sit down at old age and realize that you've wasted your lives doing what somebody else told you to it's about time you started to live for your selves."

"Nihlus, not everyone can run around doing whatever they like, someone has to do things the right way, by the rules," Shepard pointed out.

"Sure, you'd need to have skills perfected to my level to survive the life I lead," he chuckled. "Still – you can always return to being someone's puppets, but the longer you let yourselves be controlled, the harder it will get to break free."

"Is this the Spectre speech again?" Garrus asked. "You do remember that it won't be an option for us for many years, right? If we can't do things our way, at least we can help by not sitting around, doing nothing. Even if it means being controlled by someone. It's just… After pointlessly killing for a decade, there comes a moment you're ready to do anything to have it stopped."

"But it is over now, why do want to keep this up? You don't need Spectre status to help people and definitely not some politicians. How did they brainwash you both so much you think this marriage actually will mean something for the galaxy?" he continued, annoyed. "You have no power to change anything, only some responsibilities and restrictions. Speeches and pretty pictures won't save lives and won't keep peace."

"You said yourself – we're symbols, people will look to us and…" she began to explain, but Nihlus stopped her.

"Symbols are created easily and can be replaced with little difficulty. You'll never please everyone and no matter how many people will support you and your efforts, there will be as many who'll call you pretenders and liars. You'll never please everyone and the only people worth trying for are yourself and the ones you love. Fuck humans, turians, the committee, everyone who pulled you into this to use as instruments for their own good and this marriage joke. Live by your own rules; if they want to start another war or destroy each other, the two of you won't stop them with nice words. But a gun in the face might help."

"You really had a lot of time to think," she said. There was more truth in his words than she'd like to admit. Their marriage didn't stop the war and it wouldn't stop it from resuming. She meant well when she agreed, when she let herself get talked into it, but now it all seemed so pointless, a publicity stunt. They've been so busy trying to help and stop it when it had lasted a decade too long that they needed someone else to open their eyes.

"You're right. We've done our part during the war and after that; it's time we do things our way. And if they don't like, let's see how they'll stop us," he said grinning.

"Finally, that's the Garrus I know," Nihlus laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Shepard smiled. Getting rid of committee's grip would mean they wouldn't have to worry about one of them pushed to turn against the other. They could live for themselves. They wouldn't stand aside, but work by their own rules– it definitely suited them a lot more than what they had been doing for the past half year.

Nihlus suddenly stopped at the door ahead of them. "There's a corridor that will take us to the main room," he explained, "but it's filled with enemies."

"And attacking would only draw more," she concluded.

"Don't worry, I've made sure there won't be problem with that," he said, smirking.

"What did you do?" she asked, fearing the answer.

He didn't reply as an explosion shook the whole base. When the tremors stopped, they could hear footsteps and voices pass the room they were hiding in. She tried to count them, but there were too many. Nihlus had known about it when suggested to come here, he had everything planned out.

"Fuck," Shepard and Garrus said together.

"When you sent me down to hide the body I found a storage room full of mechs. I sabotaged some and made sure they self-destructed forty minutes later, taking a good amount of working ones with them," Nihlus explained. "Now you can walk in the main room without any problems and get your information while I kill the leader."


	16. Chapter 16

The good mood was gone instantly. While the distraction was well planned – those mechs must have cost a fortune and they were rather far from their current location- it had serious consequences. Now everyone knew there were intruders in the base and retreating the same way they came in was impossible.

"What have you done?" Garrus asked furious, slamming Nihlus into the wall. His fringe hit painfully, but he didn't do anything to resist. "Are you completely out of your mind? How are we supposed to get out of here now?"

"We will think about it later, when our job's done," he replied.

"Just because I'm used to your fighting style and been lucky enough to get out alive of the troubles you get me into, does not mean you can pull your crazy stunts when Shepard's here," he hissed. "If something happens to her because you put ten dead men before two live friends I won't forgive you that."

The expression on Nihlus' face changed before he could stop it – his words hurt more than any hit Garrus could deliver, but he got it back under control quickly. "I wouldn't have taken the risk if I didn't believe we can do this," he said looking him in the eyes with confidence.

"So our lives hang on your beliefs."

Shepard put her hand on Garrus' shoulder and pulled him back. "As much as I'd like to kick him a few times myself, this is not the best time for arguing. Every minute we waste here reduces our chances. We either go now and try to finish this or find an exit. Since we've gotten this far..."

He stepped back and checked his rifle, still angry. "Then let's move."

They left the room all three walking next to each other, guns pointed straight ahead, shooting the guards that stayed behind before they even noticed they had company. Nihlus led them silently, more serious than ever before – he was determined to prove he hadn't made a mistake. She would agree with what he'd done if this was just another mission like before, with the Alliance, when all that mattered was the goal. But when working with the one she loved and if there was a future to look forward to, the priority shifted to survival. Especially if said mission could be postponed and included someone else's personal revenge.

They stopped before the next door, there was another room before their goal. Shepard and Garrus took positions on either side of it. Behind the door the room would be full of guards staying behind to guard the leader. They needed to get through any enemy forces before more showed up.

"When inside, cover me, I'll take care of the next lock," Nihlus said, opening it. The enemies on the other side opened fire immediately, making Nihlus duck into cover next to Shepard. Their position was far from comfortable, but somehow they managed to push them back enough to enter the room and get to the door. As he worked on it, Garrus and Shepard took care of the rest of the defenders.

The hall was a round room surrounding a much smaller one in the center. The big terminals at the walls made a good cover – this apparently was the place most planning was done and they could get a lot of information they needed, but there were too many enemies and too many entrances to guard them all. Their only chance would be following Nihlus' plan.

Garrus and Shepard worked together better than ever before, each guarding one side and occasionally looking at the other, making sure no one had gotten passed them or threatened Nihlus. They took care of them before he was done and could hear footsteps closing in from the corridors they left behind. The three of them stepped in the central room as soon as door was open, Nihlus sealing it behind them while she and Garrus pointed their guns at the two occupants – an older and younger turian with the same colony markings, both meeting them with their own weapons. To her surprise, the room looked like any ordinary office.

"Drop them, you're outnumbered," Shepard said, covering Nihlus.

"I'm not lowering my gun in front of a human," the elder turian hissed. Garrus shot the gun out of his hand making it fly over the room and Nihlus used the chance to knock him off his feet, holding the turian's arms behind his back with one hand and pointing his gun at his unarmored neck with the other.

"Time for revenge," he said.

"Wait, I know what you need and I can tell you anything you want, just don't kill him," the younger turian said throwing his pistol away and raising his hands. Shepard switched her attention to him and now both she and Garrus were aiming at him.

"Don't interfere or I'll show you what real torture feels like, not the tickling you subjected me to," Nihlus said to him, ready to kill.

Shepard went to their friend and pulled his hand holding the gun away. "We didn't come here for bloodshed."

"You didn't. I have my own plans," he answered, trying to free himself from her grip, but she didn't let go.

"Nihlus, he won't get away, but we can solve this differently," she tried to convince him. She was sure the turian deserved what was coming, but if they could get everything from someone close to him… Nihlus would just have to give in this time, he owed his life to her after all.

He stepped away with angry snarl. "He gets to live, for now. If he tries anything…" he said, but Shepard could tell from his eyes, that "for now" would last until she'd turn her back.

"Don't you dare to betray me, coward," the elder one said, glaring at his ally.

"I'm sorry, father, I won't just stand and watch," he said, lowering his head.

"General Quintus, you're not in the place to talk about betrayal," Garrus said with barely contained anger. "Two of your best men died on that pirate station."

"Their names won't be forgotten, like all that gave their lives in this war," he answered, unbothered by Garrus' accusation.

"You know him?" Shepard asked.

"Served under him for some time," he answered tersely and turned back to him. "The war is over. Do you want the killing to continue? I always knew you were ruthless, but this is just madness."

"It's not about the war, but humans," general answered. "They're like a tumor that needs to be cut out of the galaxy before it spreads and makes the rest of it ill. During the last ten years they were able to hold against us and invade batarian territory, how long until they turn to the rest of the galaxy? Leave them be and in less thana hundred years we all will be crushed under their boots. Is that the future you wish to see? They're as bad as rachni and krogan and they need to be treated accordingly. It's our, turian, duty to finish what was started. "

"We have not invaded anything," she hissed angrily. For all the smart planning and successful expansion of his group, annoying the only person who was unwilling to kill him on the spot was just plain stupid. "And how dare you compare us to…"

"Don't try to justify humanity, I've seen what you're capable of – torturing soldiers who had surrendered for information, experiments on living ones for _science_," Quintus said, "the only way to stop you is to use your own methods. You're too greedy, there won't be peace until you get everything or are completely destroyed."

Shepard exhaled forcefully, trying to control her emotions – she needed a clear head to complete this mission. What he said was true. Most of the Alliance soldiers knew, but no one ever talked about it. There never were any questions where the newest weapons came from, how a mod that could pierce turian natural armor or poison that would paralyze them was obtained. She didn't believe they hadn't used similar methods to gain the upper hand in the war. Even if she was wrong it was simply because their technology was superior to any humans had. And what they had done with the Genophage was far worse than anything humanity had tried.

"Humanity is despised by someone who comes from a race that subjected krogans to a sterility plague," she shook her head and turned to Nihlus. "How much time do we have?"

"However long it takes for them to realize they won't override the lock plus the time needed to cut their way through."

"Garrus, go look at the terminal, download everything you can and send a copy to Liara. Nihlus, keep the general quiet, but don't harm him too much," she ordered and a small smile appeared on her face as they obeyed without complaining. Two big, dangerous turians complying with her orders – she certainly enjoyed it. "Now, what exactly do you want in exchange for answers?" she spoke to the general's son.

"Just don't kill him, let him be judged by turian laws," he asked, head turned to side, refusing to look at his father.

Shepard considered their options – his surrender was fake, that much was clear. Everyone in the room knew how low the probability was for them get out alive. His only concern was keeping Quintus and himself alive long enough for his men to get in. He wouldn't even bother to make up lies. It was in his best interest to keep talking for as long as possible. She could play his game, but she'd have to be quick. The interrogation needed to end before the door opened and they were caught without an exit plan.

"Alright, we can agree on that," she answered and said to Nihlus before he could protest: "You don't have to kill him. He won't get away, trust me."

He swallowed whatever objections he had and nodded in agreement, understanding what she was trying to do.

"Your goal is to restart the war? Destroy humanity?" Shepard started.

"We would push humanity to its limits, make it show its true face and when the council races would start the final war, we would have everything ready," he answered.

"Where did you get credits enough for all this – the base, mercs, weapons?" the only other sound source besides their voices was Garrus working.

"At the beginning – sponsors, there are plenty of those who wish to see humanity destroyed, and not just turians. The base has been here for a long time, we just brought the equipment. Now the income is mostly from what pirates get in their raids."

"Got the sponsor list, he's telling the truth – I see asari, batarians… We could pay them a visit when we get out," Garrus added.

Shepard nodded, but her attention switched to the door - sparks started to fly from the base as. They were cutting it open. She didn't expect that to happen this soon.

"Is there someone to continue this if either of you can't?" Shepard asked, glancing back every few seconds.

"With what we have here – no, but you can be sure, there will be others and your race will get annihilated," the turian answered, no longer able to hide a satisfied smirk – he was sure he had succeeded.

She moved around him slowly, her gun still trained on him. "We can flip the desk and use it as cover. We'll have to try and shoot our way through."

"I need more time," Garrus answered, not even looking at her, typing fiercely.

"Garrus, this is not the best moment to play hacker," Nihlus moved closer as well, eyes following every person in the room. The door would open any moment. Shepard reached for the edge of the desk, but Garrus grabbed her wrist: "Wait."

The son of Quintus used the moment of distraction and drew a gun from hidden pocket in his armor. Shepard saw the movement with the corner of her eye and had enough time to curse her own foolishness for making such an amateurish mistake. But Nihlus shot before the turian could even aim, leaving a wound on his neck from which blue blood seeped at an alarming speed.

Quintus roared in anguish and ran to his son, not caring if he got killed for moving. He tried to stop the bleeding by pressing on the injury, but the blood ran between his fingers – Nihlus shot was perfect and nothing could save him. She heard him mutter "go", before his body slumped and he was gone, but the general didn't move or let go of his son's body. They didn't have more time to watch him, because the door opened and a few men stepped in, but a voice from the speakers made everyone freeze.

"Evacuate immediately," it said. "Mechs are powered up and heading to ships' fuel storage, shooting everything in their way. Evacuate immediately."

"Whoops, I think I pressed the wrong button," Garrus said feigning an innocent expression that soon transformed into a big smirk.

Mercs were a perfect choice if someone needed a dirty job done without questions asked, but there was a problem with loyalty: it only went as far as the next paycheck and no matter how big the sum was, they'd never stay and fight something that would mean a sure death. It was no different this time – the second sentence had just ended when everyone was moving out, trampling on the unlucky ones that fell. She watched the men that just a moment ago promised a hard fight flee the room for the nearest exit. Quintus used the chance to slip out from the room as well, but Nihlus went right after him.

"Follow them, he'll lead you out of the base," Garrus said, not moving.

"I'm not leaving you here," she couldn't believe he was actually asking that of her.

"I'll just make sure mechs will reach the destination and run right after you – I still have a link to your omnitool," he explained.

She pulled the chair, making him face her. "Don't do this to me," she said.

"I'm not dying in this shitty base, I promise," he said, looking her in the eyes, but she didn't move.

"You said you trust me," he reminded and she had to give in, hoping with all her heart that it was the right decision. Shepard sighed and closed her eyes as he took her face in his hands and kissed her. It had become kind of a tradition since she first did it his initial mission.

Her exchange with Garrus lasted less than a minute, but it was enough to make it difficult to locate Nihlus in the crowd of moving turians. Thankfully he was taller than average and she could follow the sight of his fringe by running over the terminals that were set along the wall – it wasn't the easiest path, but it was definitely better than getting stepped on.

No one paid her any attention, too busy with saving themselves. She shouted Nihlus' name a few times, but he either didn't hear or chose to ignore her. As they ran through the base she lost the sight of him for only a moment, their footsteps giving away the right direction. The next thing she heard was a gunshot and she quickened her pace, praying that she'd find Nihlus alive and not his dead body. Even if he was an asshole sometimes, she still considered him a friend.

When she finally located him, Nihlus was standing next to Quintus' body, panting from the run. The time he spent locked up had weakened him. Shepard decided not to comment on what he had done– Nihlus was a Spectre. He didn't answer to her and disagreeing wouldn't change anything.

"I had to do it, sometimes this is the only way to deal with the past." To her surprise he looked apologetic, not satisfied. "The ladder behind me will get you to the surface, I'll wait for Garrus."

"Like I'm letting you be the only loyal one," she said, patting him on shoulder. She had many reasons to be angry with him: the situation he put them in, killing the general. Part of her wanted to hit his head against the wall a few times, but she could either accept him or not, it was that simple. If Garrus had learned how to do it she could as well.

Waiting was always the hardest part. Minutes felt like hours as the anxiety grew. She knew that staying within the base was foolish and they could get caught in the explosion; it wouldn't change anything for Garrus if they waited on the surface, but her feet didn't move. If he died here, the world would lose all colors and taste for her; she could keep on living, giving herself to work, but she'd never be the same. Her thoughts were interrupted by him running in the room, shouting: "Why the fuck are you standing here? Move!"

They all reached the ladder together, Shepard climbing first, followed by Garrus and Nihlus. They got out on the opposite sides of the field. She decided to run to Liara's ship, but didn't even get to take two steps when the explosion shook the ground, knocking them off their feet, their surroundings filled with a thunder-like rumbling. For a moment she thought the blast would make a giant hole and suck them in, but when it stopped, they were still all alive and on the surface, Shepard lying on Garrus. He had caught her when they fell. She didn't move even as she heard Nihlus get up, letting the relief of having Garrus' arms around her wash over her, even if his armor dug painfully into her cheek.

She had no idea how long they had stayed like that, but Liara's voice made them get up.

"What did you do?" the asari sounded shocked. Shepard looked at the field they left behind –most of it had disappeared, leaving the base's metal walls and ceiling visible to everyone and big clouds of smoke rising from the rubble.

"Shepard calls that scouting," Nihlus explained, chuckling.

"Just like old times," Garrus said, smirking.

"Sure brings back memories," Shepard grinned back.

"What?" Liara asked, unable to look away.

"Well, back when we fought at the war, this is how it usually looked when we were done with each other," he answered. "Just the scale was smaller."

"As you said before – we're now famous, need to have some class," Shepard said. "Let's go home, I need a long, hot shower," she added, heading to the ship.

"I'm with you," Garrus put an arm around her waist.

Liara was still looking at the smoking pile of debris that was once a huge underground base. Just two turians and one human completely destroyed millions of credits' worth of equipment, weapons…

"What have you unleashed on the galaxy, Spectre?" she asked Nihlus.

"Me? I believe you're the true culprit in this," he corrected, smirking. "I know very well who you are, asari, and what you did. Now, I think we should discuss what you'll do to keep my mouth shut."


	17. Chapter 17

Liara was sitting in the car a few minutes away from the Shepard-Vakarian house. They were waiting for her to say goodbye and officially return everything they had received for the marriage – the house, apartment on the Citadel and gifts, except for the credits. They said they'd keep them because it was pay for marrying each other, but she knew that Garrus had sent his money to his family and they needed Shepard's to start a new life.

Shepard and Garrus made their decision to stop working with the committee not long after returning from Quintus' base. They contacted her and asked to arrange everything and she did it without asking many questions. Liara was tired from fighting for them and was glad that they'd leave and live their lives for themselves and find happiness with each other until she started to think about the consequences of doing so. She didn't want to stand in their way, but she had to speak to them, make sure they understood what waited for them. And this was probably the time for her to confess just how involved she was in getting them together.

When Liara had realized that neither of them knew about her role and no one was going to tell them, she swore to take her secret to the grave. But the Spectre and Garrus' friend Nihlus Kryik destroyed her hope for peace. He had found out – she still had no idea how – and threatened to tell them. All their way back she had to listen to him tease her about keeping it a secret, asking how and when to reveal the truth and what she'd be ready to do for him to keep quiet. She'd be the happiest asari in the galaxy if she'd never have to see him again.

When she arrived and stood at their door, she had to gather every bit of courage just to press the doorbell. Garrus opened the door with a smile and invited her inside. Shepard was waiting for them in the kitchen with a drink in her hand.

"Are you sure you want to leave everything?" Liara asked after greeting her and sitting down. "The members of the committee aren't happy, they could turn your life into hell."

"Let them try," Garrus said, taking a seat next to Shepard and putting his hand on her thigh. "We'll return the favor."

"That arrogant Spectre talked you into it, didn't he?" she asked. "Not that I mind getting out of this mess, I'm just worried about you two."

"He opened our eyes. And don't worry, we can take care of ourselves," Shepard reassured her, leaning against Garrus' arm. "Besides, I noticed that on the ship you couldn't take your eyes off Nihlus."

"That's not true!" she protested.

"Sure is, everyone saw that. As well as the fact that he went to speak to you quite a few times," the human said and Garrus gave an affirming nod. "Did the big, bad Spectre sweep you off your feet? Someone once told me that the turians are the most popular species among the asari."

"I swear to the Goddess, it's nothing like that," she protested.

"Yeah, yeah, but in case you ever need to, I don't know, discuss something in private or see him for some classified reason, I can set up a meeting," Garrus offered, smirking.

Liara sighed deeply, giving up. "We are talking about you now. If you leave and stay together, it will be clear to everyone that there is more between you than just a political marriage. Neither turians nor humans will easily accept that."

"We talked about it and this is probably the best time to do it. Not many recognize us yet and we're not giving up on doing what we want just because someone else won't like it," he explained.

"We need each other more than people's approval," she added. "What will you do? You won't get into trouble because of this, right?"

"No, but I'm really glad it is over, I can finally return to archeology," Liara told them with a smile.

Shepard stood up, extending her hand for a handshake: "Thank you for everything. You helped us a lot and were a good friend, we'll keep in touch."

"Wait," she said, looking away, "I need to tell you something first."

Shepard sat down again and they both waited as Liara once again tried to find courage. If before she wanted to tell them the truth because of fear, now it was shame. They considered her a friend, undeservedly, and she could no longer keep quiet out of respect and her own warm feelings for the two of them.

"I haven't… There's something I've kept silent about," she started explaining nervously. "My mother's an asari matriarch and was invited to help make the peace treaty, but she couldn't attend so I was sent as her representative. I'm just a young, foolish asari. That was no place for me and my actions proved it. I overheard a conversation – a few humans talked about the marriage of two enemies and I thought it was a human custom, a way to bring two opposing sides together. I decided that if it had worked for your race before, why not to try it there? And those in the committee agreed, though for more selfish goals –to use you as tools, not as an example. When I learned that it is not a tradition and that I couldn't stop it, I promised I would do everything in my power to at least make your life comfortable. I'm so sorry for everything – not checking the facts, causing this marriage, hiding the truth…"

There – she had said it. The hardest confession of her life. She looked at them both from the other side of the table holding her breath, their faces blank, not giving away anything.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Shepard asked. Still no emotion, except for her eyes - it was like she was trying to look into her soul, judging her.

"I was afraid you'd kill me," she answered.

"And now?"

"I was hoping that you might be less angry since everything has ended well and I couldn't let you two leave without telling the truth," Liara said and with every minute they kept back their reaction her anxiety grew.

They exchanged looks and Garrus asked: "How would you like to kill her – a bullet in the head or a knife in the heart?"

"Wait, we could strangle her with a chain, like Nihlus did to that guard when I found him," Shepard suggested excitedly. "It looked really cool."

"You could show me, I felt bad about missing it," Garrus agreed. "I think we have one in the basement."

Liara was listening to their exchange with her mouth open, not sure if they were serious or not. She had thought about the possibility that they'd be so angry they'd take her life, but hoped it would be enough with some shouting, maybe punching. She considered running away, but Garrus' long arms would catch her as soon as she got up. There was no escape; her head was starting to spin.

"Liara, are you alright?" Shepard suddenly asked, rising up. "You're getting pale, we were just joking."

"That was not funny," she said angrily, after taking a few deep breaths.

"It was until you started to faint," Garrus said, giving her a glass of cold water. "Do we really look like people who could do that to you?"

"Have you looked in the mirror?" Liara put the glass down after drinking it empty. "No wonder you are friends with Kryik, you have the same awful sense of humor."

"That's just how we show affection," Shepard laughed, putting her arm around Garrus' waist.

"Your marriage must be fun," she said. "But seriously, how angry are you?"

"I'm not really angry," she admitted. "I'm not exactly happy about you being the one behind it and not saying anything, but your mistake gave me Garrus. Thank you for that."

"Of course, if things hadn't worked out, you'd be in real trouble," he pointed out. "It was actually smart – keeping quiet till now."

"We need to leave," Shepard said after checking the time on her omnitool. "We're going to the Citadel to buy a ship, then paying a visit to those who sponsored Quintus. Take care of yourself."

She gave her a hug and Garrus patted her on shoulder when passed her, saying: "Don't get into trouble."

Liara was left alone in an empty house, the craziest period of her life just concluded. The feeling of being free of worries, duties and fear left her dizzy with joy, but most of all, she felt like she had done a good job.

* * *

A/N: First of all - big thank you to everyone who read and commented of this story, the love and support I got for it has made me really happy. And to my wonderful Beta Skeasel who worked hard to correct all mistakes I made.

Also something really awesome – one of the readers is turning "Enemy territory" into a comic - succubusstar on deviantart. Please take a look and leave a comment if you can!


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